Chronicles of Scott and Stiles
by BSimagine14
Summary: A collection of stories telling the tale of Scott and Stiles' friendship, starting with how they met. There will be stories including their first sleepover, dealing with their parents (Stiles' mom's illness and Scott's dad's drinking), crushes, asthma, school, and other stuff like that. Just some background of their friendship the way I imagine it would be. I do NOT own Teen Wolf.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Beginning…

It was finally perfect after hours of work. The towers were even and tall, made for a royal family. Not anything like the his family, but a real family that didn't fight, whose father didn't smell funny, and whose mother didn't have to work too much and look so tired all the time. This sand castle was perfect, just like the family Scott also imagined himself having. But only seconds after putting the finally touch (a leaf flag) on it, a fountain of fluid came crashing over it sending it to ruins.

"Hey!" Scott jumped up in the sandbox, obviously furious at the brown-haired, brown eyed boy now standing before him as two older women came running over to the conflict. "That was my castle you jerk! My perfect castle and you ruined it! Why would you ruin it?" Everything seemed to keep being ruined. Even at such a young age Scott knew how tough life could be.

The boy smiled back at Scott. "I was saving you." He pointed down at the castle at something Scott had obviously not seen. "That bug. I heard the moms talking about lice. It sounds awful. I couldn't let the lice attack you, so I drowned it." He smiled proudly as the boys' mothers caught the conversation, reaching the sandbox exchanging smiles. They both had dark circles under their eyes but their faces were kind and understanding.

"Lice?" Scott looked at the bug in horror, he'd heard of the bug and instantly changed his mind about the castle. It couldn't have been perfect if it was infected. This would become something of a tradition: Scott being shown how something he once thought was perfect was flawed.

Melissa, Scott's mother, laughed as she knelt down by the boys. "That's really sweet of you sweetie, but that bug isn't lice, it's a beetle. And you can't just drown lice by peeing on it. You really should do your research before you go around trying to save people's lives." She didn't know it, but with that statement she had made an important impact, made a character trait for the little boy.

"Yeah, do your research." Scott smiled and held out his hand. "I'm Scott."

The little boy took Scott's hand and shook it a little too eagerly; he always seemed to have too much energy he couldn't control. Soon his parents would realize that maybe a run around the park wasn't enough to settle this energy. "I don't like my name, you can call me Stiles." He looked up at his mom as if to ask if that was okay and she nodded slightly with a smiled on her face. "Hey, do you want to go check the jungle gym?"

"Yeah!" Scott started to take off but stopped but Stiles held him back. "What?"

Stiles turned to Melissa. "How do you kill lice?"

The other woman laughed. "Don't worry about saving people Stiles, you're a kid. Just go play."

"But mom, we want to save people!" Scott stomped his foot a little and moaned before the two took off, fully prepared to ignore her statement and rid the playground of any evil, lice or worse, that threatened to hurt the children of Beacon Hills.

"Just when I was beginning to worry he was never going to make any friends." The blonde woman smiled at the two boys who seemed to instantly mesh. "I'm Claudia Stilinski." She held her thin, pale hand out for the other woman.

Melissa smiled and shook her hand gently. "Melissa. Wait, Stilinski? I think I was pulled over by a cop named Stilinski last week…"

Claudia smiled. "That was probably my husband. Sorry."

"No, he let me off with a warning. He was probably the most understanding cop I've ever met." She smiled and looked out at the boys who were now investigating the swings. "I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of each other. Scott is usually so shy. I've never seen him like this. I think Stiles will be good for him." She looked over in time to see Claudia's eyes flutter and her body sway just a little bit. Melissa, ever the dutiful nurse, reached over to give a helpful hand to the other mother before helping her to a bench. "Are you alright?"

Claudia smiled innocently. "Yeah, I'm sure I'm fine. I just haven't been sleeping the best recently." She looked out to her son. "You know, I think those two will be good for each other." There was a feeling deep in her chest that those two would be best friends, soul mates in a sense. And she wasn't wrong, thank goodness, because in the next few years they were really going to need each other…


	2. Chapter 2: Hospital Renegades

Hospital Renegades…

Why did everything have to be so loud? There was beeping, people talking, wheels squeaking, moans, taps, the sound of metal, and so much more than Stiles couldn't rightly identify. He didn't want to be here anymore. He hated it here. The noises and sounds were all wrong. He just wanted to grab his parents and leave. He just wanted to leave…

Just when he thought he was going to have to run away a voice calling out his name brought his head away from his hands where he'd been cradling it. "Stiles? I thought that was you!" A dark haired, brown eyed boy from the park came running down the hallway smiling. "My mom had to come into work and no one could watch me so I'm stuck here until my dad gets off work. What are you doing here?" He sat down in the chair next to his new friend.

Stiles looked down the hallway to the door his parents had disappeared to. He was told not to move from this seat. A nurse had been watching him but there had been an accident or something and he was needed, leaving Stiles alone. He looked away from the door, trying to forget the look on his parents' faces. He didn't understand what was going on. All he knew was that there were tests being done. He didn't know what kind of tests or what that meant but he knew they weren't like the tests his new teacher gave him with letters and numbers. "Tests, my mommy is having tests." Stiles' voice was quiet before he looked up at Scott. "We should go somewhere."

Scott jumped out of his seat and Stiles did the same. "I know! We can search the hospital for lice!" He beamed at the idea.

But Stiles shook his head. "No, a hospital wouldn't have lice…a hospital would have bigger monsters like cancer, broken bones, or death." Neither boy seemed to notice how morbid they were for their age, it just seemed natural for two kids who grew up around it all being sons a cop and a nurse.

"I know where they could be hiding. It's dark, quiet, scaring, and my mom is always telling me to never go down there." Scott kept his voice at a whisper as he looked around the hospital. "Come on." He took his friend's arm and the two ran for the stairway, leaving the unsupervised waiting room behind.

After several minutes of wandering around, and getting lost twice (although Scott was admit that he wasn't lost and knew where he was going), they finally made it to the right side of the basement of the hospital. Stiles looked around, surprised by how quiet it had become. "It's so quiet down here." They almost seemed alone. It would have scared any other five year old, but Stiles wasn't any normal kid and neither was Scott. It's what made them fit so well together, best friends.

"You haven't seen the best part. Well…" Scott realized Stiles might not think it was as cool as he did but he couldn't take it back now. "It's where all of the bad things end up anyways." He went through the door he had found by mistake one day, leading his friend into the cold room. "My mom says I shouldn't come down here." He looked around the dim mostly empty room.

Stiles knew the room from his dad's job what this room was: the morgue. He knew the drawers in the wall held dead bodies. He knew why Scott thought the bad things were here. The worst of the worse, the stuff that killed, found their way here. But there was a flaw in Scott's thinking. "We can't do anything here. It's too late here." Stiles took in a shaky breath. "We should to go where they first come in. We can fight the bad stuff there." For a split second, his mom flashed before his eyes. What if they could fight whatever was hurting his mom?

"Okay." Scott jumped up from the table he was leaning on. "So where do you want to go? There are different floors for different problems." How could someone make a decision like that? Stiles just shrugged in response. Scott smiled wide and grabbed his friend's arm as he took off out the door. "Then we will go after them all!" And they did.

The boys when to every floor trying to fight anything bad they came upon. Maybe they didn't cure any disease or even a person but many people laughed and smiled, even the two boys when Stiles thought today would be a day he wouldn't even smile at. But somewhere in the mist of blowing up rubber gloves, stealing extra scrubs, drawing faces on face masks, and running through the halls of the hospital Stiles had forgotten why he was there and was just playing with his friend.

However the day couldn't last forever, even if the boys wanted it to. An anger nurse and an even angrier cop found the two boys when they ran back to a janitor's closet for two rolling mop buckets in hopes for another race. As soon as they saw their parents' faces they dropped what was in their hands and their smiles fell. "Dad, I'm sorry…" Stiles started to apologize but didn't get far.

"We have spent the last two hours looking for you two!" Mr. Stilinski reached for his boy, at the end of his rope. He was completely drained after everything with his wife. After seeing the scans all he wanted to do was walk out into the waiting room and hold his little boy but when he saw an empty chair his heart sank to his stomach. He thought he was going to faint, lose it. If it weren't for the dark haired nurse who came up just in time looking for her son as well, she kept him calm and the two went looking for the boy together. Apparently the nurse knew Stiles and Claudia. "Do you know how scared…"

Melissa put a hand on the upset man's shoulder. "Okay, calm down, at least we found them." She knew the man was more upset about his wife than his son running off, she had heard other nurses talking. It was a rare case of dementia, a poor young mother slowly losing her mind. "Scott, Stiles, where have you two been?" She tried to stay calm and rational, her nurse face on.

Both of the boys broke out at the same time yelling about what they had been up to, fighting monsters of the hospital. But Mr. Stilinski didn't seem impressed so Stiles stopped, pulling on Scott's arm to make him do the same. "I'm sorry dad. I won't do it again."

The cop wanted to start yelling and cursing but then he saw the helpless, sad, and guilt-ridden look on his son's face. Those big brown eyes looked up at him as if it was his fault all of this was happening and maybe there was something he could do about it even if he was just a little kid. And with that the anger sank away and he fell to the floor, wrapping his arms around his son. "Yes you will. It's okay Stiles, I go around saving people all day. I understand why you would want to do the same. Just, please, next time I tell you to sit still…" He couldn't finish, thinking about the last time he'd seen the kid still (which was never). "I love you son." He held the kid close. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry." Stiles didn't know what else to say. "Can we go see mommy now?"

The man let go of his son enough to look into his eyes. "Yeah, let's go see your mom and go home." He looked back at the nurse. "Thanks for helping me find him." And then he turned to the other boy. "And thank you for helping my son fight the bad things in the hospital. But if you two go running off when you shouldn't again, playing renegades, I just might have to lock you both up myself." With that he picked up his son and walked down the hallway, keeping the little boy close to him as Stiles waved over his dad's shoulder to his best friend and fellow renegade.

"Hey, how's my little man?" Claudia smiled

"Great! Scott and I are renegades!" Stiles smiled at the new word he'd learned. He went on to tell his mom about his adventure as they drove home, not stopping even when his mom dazed out. He couldn't wait until he saw Scott again, forgetting to ask his mom how she did on her tests…


	3. Chapter 3: First Sleepover

First Sleepover

It had been a few weeks since Claudia received her results: frontotemporal dementia. It was genetic so she knew about it. That's how it usually is with the rare cases, isn't it? She had been willing to try some rare, new treatment; not because the sheriff begged and begged for days but because when they finally told Stiles he looked up at her with his large brown eyes and asked, "You're not going to die, are you Mommy?" And she couldn't let her son grow up without a mother. She would try anything she could to stay alive as who she was just a little longer. But the treatment proved to be taking its toll. So when Melissa offered to take the boys on her night off, Claudia agreed (even if there was some guilt in letting her boy go when there was only so much precious time left).

Even with some new experimental treatment they were only putting off the inevitable. She would slowly forget her family, she would forget herself, and then she would die as a shell of who she once was. It wasn't going to be pretty. There was nothing poetic or beautiful about it. She was going to forget how to talk, how is there anything poetic or justifiable in that? So she took the night off and let herself cry for the first time, finally able to let herself be afraid of her future…

Melissa could see how tired her new friend had been lately and how Little Stiles was trying so hard to take care of her, so she decided to let them both off the hook for a night. They could use it. She was sure Scott could use it too. He was starting to ask questions about his father: "Why does daddy drink so much?" "Why is daddy yelling?" "Mommy what's a divorce?" The questions of her son's ever growing worry were too much. So maybe she was being a little selfish, but hey, who doesn't enjoy a night with friends?

Stiles had packed for his night with Scott on Tuesday even though he wasn't going over until Saturday. To say he was excited was an understatement. The truth be told, Stiles hadn't had many sleepovers. Not many kids his age wanted to spend that much time with him…nor did their parents. He was too much energy and most nights he would cry for his mom (but his mom told him that was normal). So, when his dad dropped him off he jumped out of the car and ran towards the house to find Scott running out of the house to meet him, just as excited. "Hey!"

"Hi! I have so many things planned!" Scott threw his hands in the air as he grabbed Stiles' pillow (which the boy had to bring, he couldn't sleep without it because he needed something that smelled like home, like his mom and dad) and the two ran into the house without a second glance back at the sheriff who was smiling sadly as he usually did these days.

The two went to the PlayStation almost immediately playing the latest Mario game Scott had bought. Stiles was weirdly good for someone who didn't have a PlayStation at home. And of course the two blamed each other of cheating. "How are you doing that?! I didn't know you could do that!" Scott yelled at Stiles when he discovered something new.

"I don't know, I was just pressing buttons. Man, I'm going to have to have my mom buy me this." He laughed and continued finding new parts of the game.

When Melissa yelled at them for playing too many video games the two moved outside, jumping around the backyard. They decided to play superheroes, a subject of which Stiles was an expert. "You have to love Batman, he's the best. He has all of these gadgets and…"

"But what about Superman, he doesn't need stupid toys to beat the bad guys." Scott interjected as he dangled from the bar of the swing set.

Stiles dropped his jaw. "Are you kidding me? Superman is awesome but, but Batman can be real. We could be Batman." That's what his mother had always told him. And when he thought of his dad with all of the tools on his policeman belt he thought of Batman and it made him smile. How could anyone admire Superman, an alien, over Batman, a human?

"You mean we could be Batman and Robin. We can't both be Batman. And I'd make a better Batman, even with my asthma." Scott stuck his tongue out.

"Fine, but I don't want to be Robin _all the time_." Stiles stood up on the swing he was swinging on and jumped off attempting a flip, failing the flip, and barely landing on his feet. "See, I can be Batman."

Finally the two were called in for dinner and they settled in for board games and movies with Melissa. They had finally fallen asleep (Stiles clutching onto his pillow) on the living room floor on the giant make-shift bed of blankets and pillows when the door slammed open to reveal a drunken Mr. McCall. Melissa couldn't help but cringe. "Not tonight…"

The first to wake from the drunken ramblings was Stiles. He looked up to see Melissa trying to keep her husband away from the boys. He then looked at Scott, sound asleep. And then he decided he wanted to prove he could be Batman. Slowly Stiles made his way to the kitchen and snuck his way between the two adults. "Mr. McCall, I think you've had enough. I think it's time I took you home." The poor boy didn't really know what he was doing, he was just repeating what he had heard his dad say once, with his hands on his hips and his chin held high. "Leave Melissa alone."

The drunken man laughed. "You're cute kid, annoying, but cute." He bent down a little, barely keeping his balance. "I am home and only I decided when I've had enough. As for Melissa, she's my wife. I don't have to leave her alone." He smiled and took another drink from the bottle in his hand.

"Don't, his dad is the sheriff. Please just come upstairs with me." Melissa warned. "Stiles, go back to the living room." Melissa was trying so hard to keep her cool.

Stiles wasn't having any of this though, he stomped his foot. "No! You are leaving!"

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do if I don't?"

As Stiles tried to think of a response Scott entered the room, standing by his best friend. "If you don't then you'll have to deal with Batman and Robin." He said with a little bit of sleepiness still in his voice but still firm nonetheless. Melissa couldn't help but smile at the two boys. She also cringed a little. These two were going to get themselves in a lot of awful situations when they were older.

"Whatever." The man emptied his bottle into his throat before throwing it in the sink and leaving, actually leaving. And the two boys went back to sleep, dreaming of their future as Batman and Robin. If only they knew how true their dreams would become.

Later that week the sheriff would learn about what happened that night but wouldn't be as excited and happy about it as Stiles was when retelling his little adventure. And he would call Melissa, making sure she was alright, making her promise to call him if things ever got out of hand. And she did, she promised him, a promise she would keep…


	4. Chapter 4: A Promise Kept

A Promise Kept

Scott laid in bed tossing and turning. This was a normal night: his parents yelling and fighting, his mom trying so hard to keep the noise down while his dad seemed to almost be making noise on purpose. But no matter how many nights the noise filled his house, making it familiar, he still found himself rolling around in bed. The night Stiles and him stood up to his father made him smile. That night the noise stopped. That night he slept soundly next to his Batman…or his Robin…he wasn't sure how that would work yet. He wished Stiles was there again because the yelling seemed louder this time.

Well maybe it wasn't louder but it was different. Scott wasn't sure how he knew it was different, because he was just a kid for Christ's sake, but it just felt different tonight. It's amazing how kids seem to just know these things sometimes. So he opened his eyes and cracked his door open. Sure enough there were his parents yelling and fighting. He sighed, wondering if Stiles' parents ever fought like this. Deep down he knew they didn't. Claudia and the Sheriff smiled at each other in a way Scott had never seen his parents do. Every now and then he would catch the Stilinskis staring at each other like the kids at the high school, his parents never did that.

In that moment Scott wondered why his parents couldn't be in love like Claudia and the sheriff. He just wanted the yelling to stop, he just wanted to sleep. So he quietly made his way to his parents, who were ascending the stairs as they fought. His dad was yelling, looking like he was going to possibly hit his mom when Scott finally made his presence known, when he finally stepped forward. And then everything went black…

When Scott came to his parents looked so worried, but they finally weren't fighting. He must have done something right. He smiled at himself. He did it without Stiles this time. "I guess I am Batman." He mumbled to himself.

That night he slept soundly even if his mom was fussing over him, asking weird questions; she even sneaked into his room late that night and curled up around him, sleeping close to him. He thought that everything would change after that night…he didn't think they would change the way they did but he was right. He never saw his dad again…not until he was a teenager that is.

The next day he saw Stiles, the boy came running up to him throwing his arms around him and asking if he was okay. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

Stiles looked at him with big brown eyes, a level of knowing hiding behind the misleading innocence. "Nothing, just asking, duh! Let's play!" And they took off like two little boys should do. And Stiles never told Scott why he asked if he was okay, why he hugged him. Even during the long nights when Stiles caught Scott crying because he missed his dad, maybe even missed his dad's yelling, because he knew it would kill Scott. He knew it would emotionally stab the poor boy to know the man left because of him, because of what he had done to Scott.

Stiles had been up that night too, listening to his mother's crying and moans. He wanted to help but his dad was home that night. It was the sheriff's job that night to take care of Claudia but Stiles still wanted to stay close by, just in case. He was hiding, taking it all in, just as he always did. And when the phone rang the boy went to the other room out of habit and picked up the other land line. He had been doing it for ages, a trick he learned from his mom. He hated that the grown-ups tried to keep things from him so he learned how to be a "ninja".

Melissa had a promise to keep after all. "Sheriff?" It was Melissa, she never called that late. "Sheriff I'm sorry, I just, I didn't know who else to call and you told me to call you if anything ever got out of hand and…well…oh God I can't believe it actually happened…"

As any good sheriff would, Stilinski took a breath letting go of his worries and own tears from taking care of his wife before speaking in an even and soft tone. "Calm down Melissa, what happened? Are you okay? Is Scott okay?" There was never a note of panic, just calm and steady beats.

Her thoughts and voice were a little jumbled but the sheriff understood. "Yeah, I mean everything is now. We were fighting because he came home drunk again and for some reason Scott came out of his room. He tried to make us stop fighting. He stepped in front of his dad, like he was trying to protect me or something. I don't know what I'm going to do with that boy! He just put himself right there and then one little push and he was going down the stairs…" Tears caught in her voice. "He hit his head on the floor and I mean…he's, he's fine. He doesn't even remember it. But…"

The sheriff cleared his throat. "I'll make sure he doesn't come back."

"I already told him to leave."

"I'll still talk with him. Even if Scott is okay…"

"I know." Melissa sighed. "I know. I just…I didn't know who else to call. I know that everything has been tough with Claudia but…"

The sheriff stopped her. "No, our boys are best friends. We will always be here for you. Lock your doors and if he comes back tonight call me and I'll head over, sirens and all. I know how to make a man's life hell." He smiled. "Go to sleep Melissa. It's going to be okay."

The two hung up and Stiles sat there all alone in the dark room staring at nothing, listening to the call tone. He knew what the phone call meant. He was smarter than most kids his age. He had been around the sheriff's office enough to know. He instantly hated Scott's dad.

It wasn't until he heard his mom calling for him that he put the phone down and walked away, pretending he hadn't heard a thing because Stiles had a promise he had to keep as well: he promised to always take care of those he cared about.

{Please give me any feedback you might have, this is my first story. I hope you've enjoyed it so far}


	5. Chapter 5:Hyperactive & Hard of Breating

Hyperactive &amp; Hard of Breathing [Stiles diagnosed, Scott has asthma attack]

After the night that Scott's dad left, Scott seemed to only have questions; questions that no one would answer truthfully. It didn't help that his asthma seemed to be getting worse. He had several attacks while at school, and even during recess a few times. If it weren't for Stiles, Scott wasn't sure he would have made it through that time in his life because it was Stiles that went running for the inhaler and even started carrying one around with him (especially at recess) just in case. But that day it happened during recess wasn't the scariest moment during that time in his life.

It had been a week since the last one. He wasn't thinking much about it. He was running around outside. To be fair, Scott knew he was supposed to be careful when it was cold outside. He knew he should have been more careful, Stiles had even told him, but he just didn't want to care anymore. He wanted to just have fun for once since his dad left him.

A few of them were throwing a Lacrosse ball back and forth when suddenly it turned into a game without any rules. They were honestly having fun, more fun than either boy had had in a long time. Everyone was laughing and really getting into it. All of them were panting and running out of breath, so Scott didn't think too much about it when he was panting more and more, feeling like he needed more air. But when he stopped running, when he took a step away from the game, he still couldn't catch his breath. A pressure came over his chest; it felt like something heavy was weighing down on it. It was like trying to breathe through a crumbled straw. That's when the panic set in. He couldn't breathe.

It was like drowning. He was drowning out of water. Every ounce of effort was spent trying to force air into his lungs but none was coming. It only made his chest hurt more and more. There was so much pressure… and that's when a thought came to him, "There are no adults around here. There is no one here to save him this time. He's going to drown. He's going to die."

Then there was a life raft thrown out to him, a lifeline, and he wasn't drowning anymore. Something pressed to his lips and sweet air is filing his lungs. It was as if someone had been holding him in a death grip, keeping beautiful oxygen from him, and suddenly they were gone and he could breathe again. When he looked up to see who his lifeline was, two concerned brown eyes were looking down at him. "Scott, are you alright? I told Tommy to call your mom."

Scott couldn't help but smile. "I'm okay Stiles."

Then there was a pain hitting the back of Scott's head. "Scott, you're supposed to be more careful! How is Batman supposed to save the world if he can't even breathe? You have to pay attention to when you need your inhaler and you have to keep it with you!" Stiles shoves the inhaler back into his pocket angrily.

"Why? I'll always have my Robin around. And what's the point of a sidekick if they can't carry the cool gadgets?" Scott felt so relieved for the first time. Even if his mom, a teacher, the sheriff…his dad, or anyone else wasn't there then at least Stiles always would be. Stiles would always be there to save him. Stiles was his lifeline. "Can we go inside?"

The little boy who was trying to look angry held out his hand to his best friend sitting on the ground. "Yeah, come on, we were losing anyways. We're never going to play this game in high school Scott. We will we bench warmers. Especially if you keep having asthma attacks like this."

Stiles sat in the blue plastic chair, his leg jumping up and down and his fingers tapping on his leg. He had to miss recess so now he felt like he was going to burst. There was a moment when he considered just running down the hallway and back to see if the teacher would notice but after seeing how serious everyone looked walking into the meeting, he thought twice about it. It wasn't often his mom came to school meetings anymore but both his parents came and all of his teachers (including the school guidance counselor) were in that room. He was biting his nails and moving nonstop. What could they be talking about? What had he done wrong? I mean, he knew he got yelled at a lot but he wasn't as terrible as some of the kids in his class. He wasn't like that Jackson Whittemore kid.

Thoughts zoomed back and forth trying to think of a solution. Everything was attacking his mind at once. He first was thinking of why everyone was in a room talking about him and before he knew it he was thinking about turtles and wondering how their shells grew…

Finally, after what felt like forever (seriously it was ages and ages), Stiles' parents walked out of the room, shaking hands with the teachers. "Come on kid, let's go home." The sheriff took his son's shoulder and the three of them walked down the hallway (well Stiles' gate was more of skip from all of that pent up energy) leaving the school. The car ride was quiet. Claudia looked back at Stiles a few times as if she wanted to ask him something but she didn't. He felt like he was going to go crazy at the silence, no one had even asked him about his day yet.

When they got home, they asked Stiles to sit down at the table with them. "Mom, dad, am I in trouble? Because I swear I didn't do anything. I mean, yeah, I jumped up on the table during math but the teacher wasn't listening and I just…"

"Stiles." Sheriff Stilinski stopped his son. "You're not in trouble. We just…your teachers brought some concerns to our attention. And before you can go back to class, you have to take a test for us. I don't want you to think you did anything wrong or that there's something wrong with you. It's just that we want to help you."

Stiles looked down at his hands. "What kind of test? What did I do wrong?"

Claudia shook her head and reached out to her son. "You did nothing wrong. Your teachers are just concerned about your attention in the classroom. And you can't sit still which can cause issues too and…" She stopped when she noticed how worried her son was becoming. "We aren't saying it's your fault, sweetie. We just…we think you might have ADHD and if you do then we can do something about it and then you can pay attention in class. You won't get into trouble anymore." She smiled.

The poor kid still didn't understand but he nodded. He would do anything to make it better. He took the test, a test he failed (in his opinion), and he took the medicine his mother handed to him every morning because he wanted to make everyone happy; especially his parents who haven't seemed very happy since his mom failed her tests. So he took the pills, let his fascinating world slow down and did his best to sit still in class and keep his mouth shut.

Except for when Scott was around. When Scott was around he could jump around and ramble all he wanted. Scott didn't care. He could even keep up most of the time when the only person who could ever keep up with Stiles before was his mother. And Scott didn't care. Scott liked the energy. If it weren't for Scott, letting him release this energy, Stiles would never have been able to sit still in class and behaved.

They needed each other.


	6. Chapter 6: First Day of Third Grade

First Day of Third Grade

It was raining. Both boys would always remember that the first day of third grade was raining. It seemed fitting. Today was the last day of Claudia's treatment with the experimental trials, and today she would have an MRI to see if it had helped at all, if the side effects had been worth it. That was all Stiles could think about. Not even the Adderall could take the edge off to help him pay any attention in class; not that day, not the first day of third grade.

At lunch there was no stopping Stiles' jumping knee. He shoved his food around, his mind going back to his mom and her smile as she sent him off that morning. She told him everything would be "altogether", he was sure she meant alright but he wasn't going to correct her. He just gave her a tight hug and went off to school. Now it is lunch and he hadn't heard anything.

"Hey." Scott sat down next to his best friend. "So, third grade. Two more years and we will be in Jr. High. We will stink like those kids." He pointed to two tables over. He smiled, hoping to get something maybe even a laugh from his friend but he only got a nod. "Stiles?"

Stiles just continued to poke at his food, mixing it all together. "Do you think Batman would still be Batman if his parents hadn't died?"

Scott looked up from his food. "Yeah, I do. I bet he would have been happier and he would have more money from his dad. And his mom would help stitch him up. He would probably have more friends too. I mean his mom wouldn't let him be so moppy all the time. But we aren't Batman Stiles. We're Scott and Stiles. We're our own heroes." Scott tried another smile.

Stiles nodded, a ghost of a smile playing on his face. "I need more milk." He stood up to get more milk when one of their classmates happened to be walking behind his seat. The two collided, sending all of her food everywhere. Peas, carrots, mashed potatoes, Salisbury steak, and milk covered the floor as beautiful strawberry blonde hair waved through the hair, all landing on Stiles. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Stiles immediately started apologizing.

"You better be! Do you know how much my daddy spent on this dress?!" The little girl, who sounded much older than her age, stood up with the help of a clumsy Stiles and wiped off her dress. "It was the perfect first day of school dress and you almost ruined it."

"Almost?" Scott asked from where he came to help.

The little girl held her nose in the hair and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Nothing is completely ruined when you're smart enough to fix it." With that she huffed and walked away to leave the two boys with the mess.

"Well that was rude." Scott scoffed.

Stiles smiled a little more. "She was cute. Did you see that hair?" He only got an eye roll in response from his best friend before a teacher came over to yell at the two and they spent the rest of lunch recess in the third grade version of detention.

The rest of the day Stiles managed to leave his fog, finding reasons to cross the classroom to be closer to the strawberry blonde (who had modified her dress after the lunch incident) and was finally joking around with Scott. His mom was pushed to the back of his mind, until the end of the day came and she wasn't there to pick him up like she always was.

When the massive waves of kids, parents, and cars had vanished Stiles fell to the ground, sitting on the curb. Where was his mom? Did something happen at the hospital? Where was his dad? Why was no one here? What happened? Why did everyone think he was too young to know anything? Why couldn't he have gone with them? He was lost in these thoughts when he felt a hand grip his shoulder and he jumped in response. But when he looked up he saw Scott. "Hey."

"Hey buddy." Scott sat down next to his friend and pulled out a bag of chips. "My mom is late a lot. Maybe she is rubbing off on your mom." He took a chip and then offered them to his friend.

Stiles took a chip. "I don't think so. I think something happened at the hospital." He started breaking the chip apart instead of eating it. "Maybe she's really dying now."

Scott put his arm around his friend. "Don't worry, we will figure something out. We are our own heroes, remember? We will save the day." Scott kept his smile on, wishing he could make his friend feel better, wishing he could make him laugh. "I mean, you spilt a girl's lunch all over her and she seemed to have a great day. That's an accomplishment."

With that Stiles smiled a little bit. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?" Before either of them could say anything else Melissa pulled up and rushed out of the car.

"Boys, I am so sorry. I was running late. I'm technically still on duty. You're going to come to the hospital with me and then the Sheriff will take you home, okay?" She smiled, her eyes lingering on Stiles. "Come on, let's go."

The two boys jumped up and ran into the car. "Why isn't my mom picking me up? Is she still at the hospital?" Stiles was so busy buzzing with questions that Scott had to be the one to buckle his seat belt. "Is she better now? Can she stop those treatments? Do you think…"

"Stiles." Melissa looked into the rearview mirror at the boy. She tried to keep her voice stern and normal but she couldn't help but turn into mush when she looked at the boy. She knew the news that was awaiting him at the hospital and she couldn't help herself. She wanted to wrap that boy up in her arms and never let him go. He had become like another son to her. "It'll be okay Stiles." It was the only thing she could think to say. All of her years as a nurse, comforting strangers in their times of bereavement and she had nothing for the boy she considered her own.

Stiles sat back into his seat with a heavy sigh. "Fine."

At the hospital Scott was forced to wait at the nurses' station while Stiles went to talk to his parents. After what felt like ages to the little boy, he saw his best friend being escorted out of the hospital room by Melissa and guided into a chair in the hallway to wait for his parents so they could leave. Scott didn't waste a minute racing over to his friend. "How is everything?"

Stiles wiped his eyes and smiled. "I spilt food all over Lydia today and she still had a great first day." He looked up at his best friend trying not to cry. His dad had just told him that his mom wasn't getting better, that she was getting sicker. He couldn't believe that. Everyone told him everything would be okay. Why would everyone lie like that? He couldn't focus on that, it would break him if he did. And thanks to his ADHD mind, he didn't have to. "I think I'm going to marry her Scotty. And we will have Salisbury steak at our wedding. Just you watch Scotty; I'm going to marry Lydia Martin."

Not really sure what else to do, Scot sat down next to his friend and let him talk about everything and anything except for his mom. He even ignored the tears that occasionally fell down his friends face, because that's what Stiles needed and Scott would always be there for whatever Stiles needed. "Nothing is ruined completely if you're smart enough to fix it." Scott whispered in Stiles' ear when it was time to say goodbye. "Your parents are really smart, so are the doctors." Scott smiled a hopeful smile. "And so are you."

"Yeah, and anything Lydia says has to be right, right?" Stiles smiled back.


	7. Chapter 7: Show-n-Tell

Show-n-Tell

If you want to hurt a young boy, just remind him he doesn't have a dad. It was the first time Scott had to really face others, the jerks in his class, and tell them his dad left. He couldn't do that. What kind of teacher has a show-n-tell day about dads anyways? A stupid one, that's who….at least that's all Scott could think about. He couldn't even tell his mom about the upcoming Friday. He didn't want her to feel bad because she shouldn't feel bad; she wasn't the one who walked away.

However, there Scott sat with his head on his desk wishing he could just disappear. He seemed invisible most days, so why not today? He had tried to pretend to be sick that morning but his mom was having none of it. He had tried to hide during recess so he wouldn't have to come back in but the teacher knew something was up when Stiles was missing his other half. There was no skipping this. There was no way out. Scott would have to sit through an entire day of kids standing at the front of the room with their dads while Scott had no one to show off.

Or so he thought. It wasn't too long into the class he felt a tug on his sleeve to see Stiles smiling at him. "Don't worry, I can share my dad. Or you can have him. I'll just come up with some story. You know how good I am at coming up with stories. It will be fun. You can say your dad is the sheriff. I don't mind, really. And he will go with it. I promise." His voice was a whisper, trying not to draw attention to the boys in the back corner of the room. And Scott knew his friend was being completely genuine. He would. He really would give up his dad and stand in front of the class telling some crazy story about who his "dad" was. And the sheriff would sit off to the side of the room smiling the whole time.

Scott felt his heart swell. And in that moment he knew what he was going to present for show-n-tell. "It's okay Stiles. I know what I'm going to say. I can come up with stories too." He couldn't, but he didn't have to. And Stiles smiled back at him.

Unknown to Scott, his mother was running down the hall hoping she wasn't late. She had gotten a call from the school about today. She had waited for her son to bring it up but he never did. Still, she couldn't let him sit through this alone with no one to show. She called the teacher two days before to ask if she could come in instead and the teacher agreed, so she planned to surprise her son. She just hoped he would be happy with this surprise. Only, just as she got to the door, Scott was already standing in front of the room with a smile on his face and words running from his mouth.

"I want to ask a question." Scott looked around the room and then looked back at Stiles. "What is a dad?" He waited for everyone in the classroom to say things like 'someone to tell you stories', 'someone to tuck you in at night', 'someone who lets you do the things your mom won't let you do', 'someone who works to put food on the table and a roof over your head', and more importantly, 'someone who protects you'. Scott smiled at all of these answers.

"Good, if this is what it means to be a dad then I have a lot of dads. Mr. and Mrs. Stilinski are my dads. They always let me do things that my mom won't let me do, don't tell her though. And they've tucked me in at night before. And there's my mom, she's a dad too. She works very hard to put food on the table and a roof on my head. She tucks me in every night and tells me she loves me. Also," He paused, looking back at his friend. "I have Stiles. He tells me all sorts of stories. And he protects me. He was going to protect me today. I don't have a dad like everyone else to show off today, but he was going to give me his so no one would make fun of me. He helps me when I have an asthma attack, and he's there for me no matter what. They all protect me; the Stilinskis and my mom too. They are better than any dad. They're my family."

He smiled at the sheriff sitting at the back of the room with the rest of the dads, tears glistening in his eyes. He looked at the door that had opened and closed during his speech to see his mom crying quietly, a prideful smile on her face. And then he looked at Stiles who was smiling wide. "I don't need a dad." Scott said, and he couldn't believe he hadn't realized that before. He had been so caught up in his dad leaving he hadn't looked at those who had stayed. They were the best. "So, will Sheriff Stilinski, mom, and Stiles come up here please so I can show my class my show-n-tell?" He smiled wide.

The three stood up and walked over to the boy (except for stiles who jumped from his desk and ran). "This is Sheriff Stilinski. He keeps not only me and Stiles safe but the whole county. He keeps all of you safe. So don't get mad when he pulls over your parents, he's just doing his job. This is my mom. She is a nurse at Beacon Hill Memorial. She saves people's lives. I mean she helps really save lives. They help a lot of people. They're real heroes." He smiled up at the adults. "And this is Stiles. I'm sure a lot of you know him, even if you try to ignore him or make fun of him."

"Thanks Scott." Stiles shoved him a bit.

Scott smiled. "Anyways, he's my best friend, my brother. He has ADHD but is really smart even if people think he's just random. He knows everything about asthma, maybe even more than my mom and me. And he loves Star Wars and Batman. He's awesome." Scott put his arm around Stiles' shoulders. "So, this is my show-n-tell. And they are better than your dads." He stuck his tongue out, so did Stiles, and then they took their seats.

After that day Scott never felt down about not having his dad around. It still made him angry but he never felt left out or left without. Because he had something better, something his dad could never give him no matter how hard he tried. He had a family: his mom, Claudia, the sheriff, and Stiles would do anything for him, they loved him. And that was enough.


	8. Chapter 8: Plastic Waiting Room

**Plastic Waiting Room**

It had been several years since Claudia had been diagnosed, the boys now in fifth grade. It turned out the experimental treatment had had a negative effect, making the symptoms worse. As Stiles' vocabulary and grammar became more advanced (even more advanced for his age really) his mother's was slipping. She would forget words, making herself even more frustrated. The once caring and sympathetic friend now struggled to find any empathy for anyone, even her beloved son. She might have been spontaneous and crazy when she was younger but now her husband would catch her doing inappropriate things and acting on impulse, full on compulsive behavior. Her body was riddled with tremors and muscle spasms. Claudia would be the first to admit that she was never the most coordinated but lately it was even worse. But in the last few weeks she could barely even swallow. She was frustrated whenever she had a clear mind but those days were becoming few and far between. Conversations of her no longer staying at home were starting to become shorter…and less hopeful.

One thing Claudia refused to give up was picking up her son from school. She had always picked him up and she wasn't going to stop now. Even when she had to give up her license, she would walk to the school and they would walk home together. Even when she had to walk assisted with a cane she would just leave earlier and Stiles would wait diligently for his mom. No one was going to take that away from her. Stiles knew that. That's why Stiles refused to act ashamed of his mom, even when she yelled something inappropriate when picking him up from school. He loved his mom; he would never be ashamed of her. He didn't care what the other kids said. Hell, the other kids didn't really matter, did they? Scott was still his only friend. Scott didn't flinch when Claudia messed up a word or two or when she couldn't control her limb; he just smiled and acted as if it was normal because that's who he was.

The two were waiting to be picked up when Melissa pulled into the parking lot. She wasn't supposed to be the one to pick them up. She was supposed to be at work, she still had her scrubs on. Stiles felt his stomach drop. Something had to be wrong if Melissa was picking them up and not his mom or his dad. His feet felt like lead as he walked to the car and he noticed the sympathetic smile coming from his second mom. "Hey boys, I'm sorry, we have to head to the hospital." The words sent Stiles into a string of terrible thoughts.

Just when Stiles thought he might lose it there was a hand on his arm. Scott was looking at him with those doe eyes that had a message that everything was always going to be alright. And with that Stiles was able to calm down. "It's okay." He smiled a little before turning to his mom. "What's wrong?" He knew he had to be the one to ask because Stiles couldn't.

Melissa kept her eyes on the road, occasionally glancing at Stiles in the backseat. "Claudia had an accident. I'm so sorry Stiles. She was on her way to pick you up when…" Melissa shook her head. She was a nurse; she knows how to deliver bad news. But this is Stiles, little innocent Stiles who stood up for her the first night he spent at her house. The little kid who thought he was saving her son all those years back in the sandbox. "Your mom was on her way to pick you up when she fell into the road. I guess she was too far over on the sidewalk. The car never saw her…" She couldn't stop her mind from going to the imagines of the paramedics wheeling her in.

There was blood everywhere but Claudia just kept rambling on and on. Claudia gripped Melissa's hand once she realized who it was trying to tell her to calm down so the doctors could do their job. She looked so concerned, trying to find the right word. School. She needed to say school. She was trying to tell them that she had to go to the school…

"Is she okay?" Scott's voice brought Melissa back to the present.

She shook her head. "I don't know. I left to get the two of you as soon as the sheriff arrived. She was going into surgery when I left. I'm sure she's fine Stiles." Melissa tried to smile.

Stiles leaned his head against the window. "She's not going to be able to pick me up from school anymore." Sorrow filled his voice. He knew it would kill his mom to lose that chore. He knew it would kill her spirit. There was so little they would let her do. There were times he would lie about needing her to tie his shoe, comb his hair, pick out his clothes, or help with his homework because she needed to be reminded she was still a mom. She needed her mom tasks. "She's going to be so sad." That's when a scary, dark thought popped into his head…_maybe it would be better if she didn't make it through this…_

Scott reached over and took his friend's hand. "It will be okay. We will find her something else to do." He was the only one in the car smiling, holding onto hope. But that's what Scott does. Hell, Scott practically is hope when no one else can see the light. "We will make it through this because we always make it through things, right Stiles?"

There was nothing but silence from Stiles' corner of the car. He just nodded and looked out his window, praying to someone out there that everything would be okay, that his mom would be okay. But Stiles was smart enough to know what he was lying to himself.

The car ride felt like it took forever. When they finally arrived at the hospital Scott had to grab Stiles' hand to keep him from running through the doors. He grabbed his friends hand and kept a firm grip as they walked through the halls following his mother, waiting to find out what the next tragedy these poor boys would have to face would be.

When they were lead into the plain, white, plastic waiting room they found the sheriff crumbled over in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs with his face in his hands crying like none of them had ever seen before. Melissa rushed to the poor man to calm him down, to give him some comfort. But the two boys stood there in shock. They had never seen the sheriff cry, not a grown man so strong like the sheriff. It felt like someone had stabbed Stiles right in the heart. The sheriff hadn't cried when Claudia was diagnosed, when they were told the treatment wasn't working, or any of the nights Claudia woke the house screaming without mercy. He stood strong in Stiles' eyes. But now he was just a ball of tears, fears, and hopelessness in a stupid plastic chair in a terrible plastic waiting room.

Stiles felt his knees begin to tremble, he was afraid he was going to fall but a firm hand kept him anchored. Scott. Scott walked him to one of those chairs and sat him down. Stiles couldn't look at his friend though; he couldn't because he knew if he did then he would break down just like his dad. So he looked around at the room. Cheesy, cheap pictures of flowers hung on two of the walls, a TV on mute hung at the top of one corner, the tile and walls were white like the rest of the hospital, little wooden tables stood with scattered magazines, and the plastic chairs were blue…blue and useless.

There was a tug on Stiles' hand, his friend trying to be of comfort he's sure but it pulled him from his mind and let him take a deep breath before walking over to his dad and laying a hand on his shoulder. "It will be okay. We will make it through this because we always make it through." Stiles smiled, quoting his best friend, borrowing just a little bit of hope because a waiting room can always use a little bit hope. His dad only cried more, pulling him into a hug, and they sat there in that plastic waiting room for the doctor to come tell them that their beloved Claudia would be spending the rest of her life in the hospital. And Scott stayed the whole time, even though he sat in the background, just in case more hope was needed in that stupid plastic waiting room.

The night was long, waiting for a doctor to come tell them what was going on. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, a doctor came to tell them that Claudia was stable. She was weak and there was brain damage (which only made the original damage worse and more pronounce) but she was alive. They were all relieved until Stiles asked a simple question, "When can Mom come home?" That's when the doctor looked down at the floor and gave the bad news…there was very little chance Claudia would be able to go home. She would need 24/7 care from now on out. It was time for full-time care; something Claudia had been dreading since her diagnosis.

It was time for Stiles to finally go see his mom; he stood up still holding his best friends hand. "Scott, you can't go back there with them." Melissa grabbed her son before he could leave the waiting room with the Stilinski boys. He looked up at his mom with sad eyes and then to Stiles who looked completely terrified after hearing what he needed to be prepared for when he saw his mom.

"Please mom." Scott looked up at his mom with begging eyes.

Stiles squeezed his friend's hand, knowing it was killing Melissa to say no. "It's okay Scotty, I'll be okay. She's okay. I'll see you later." He gave a quick smile and the two Stilinski's left the waiting room. "She's going to be okay, dad. She's going to be okay." Stiles just kept repeating it as they walked down the hallway. And he kept repeating it to his mom as they sat in the hospital room all night waiting for her to wake up. "You're going to be okay Mom, don't worry. We're going to be okay."

The next day, much to his disagreement, Scott went to school. Melissa went to work, trying to focus on patients other that Claudia. And the sheriff sat in the hospital room with his family, trying to ignore all of the calls he was getting from the office. Until Stiles finally spoke up, the kid smart enough to understand what all of the beeping from the radio was from, "Dad, you can go in. It's okay. I'll watch her. I'll make sure she's okay. If she wakes up I'll call you and tell her you'll be right back. It's okay, I'll stand guard." He smiled at his dad, giving him a reassurance that the sheriff should be giving him.

"I'm sorry buddy, I really am, but they need the help. I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you kid." He kissed the top of his son's head and then kissed his wife's forehead before leaving, glancing back one more time before shutting the door behind him. And that quick trip to work turned into an entire day. He was on his way back to the hospital when he got the call that there was a pile up. He knew he should get back to his son and wife but he also knew that he was the closest to the scene. So he went to the pile up. He held the hand of a dying girl, telling him to go to his wife. Well, it couldn't be his wife. How could the girl know? That's crazy, it's just blood loss. It can't be anything more than that, he didn't believe in that sort of thing. Plus, they would call if something was wrong with his wife, right?

Stiles walked and skipped around the room chattering away, the poor boy hadn't taken his ADHD medication in all of the chaos. He was caught up in a story about the Aztecs (not sure how he got into the Aztecs from milking cows but it happened in the span of an hour) that he almost missed his mom opening her eyes and raising her hand. "Mom!" Stiles jumped and ran to the bed with a smile.

"W-w-who…" Claudia's voice was broken and scratchy. "W-w-h-h-at-t-t-t…" She looked at Stiles with confusion and then around the room. Her heart started to beat faster. The monitors started to make loud noises, freaking Stiles out and causing two nurses to run into the room. "N-n-n-o, s-s-s-s-s-s-scc-c-c-chool…" The crazy beeping leveled out. More people scrubs came running into the room with a crash cart. Everyone was so busy working on Claudia they forgot all about the little boy in the room watching everything happen, watching his mother die. And she did. Claudia died.

Stiles didn't know what to do, where to do. They said they were calling the sheriff but Melissa wasn't there, Scott was still gone, and his mom was…he'd never felt alone before now. Stiles went to the waiting room to wait for his family but when he got there a pain filled his chest. The room looked so fake, it had once held some hope that was now, in hind-sight, false hope. It made him sick. He couldn't look at the falseness of it anymore…it just seemed even more plastic. A plastic lie, you sit there and wait for your loved one to get better, for the doctors to fix them. But they don't get better, they can't be fixed. So stiles ran. He ran back to his mom's room, wishing to see her one last time.

When they wouldn't let him in he grabbed a seat from the waiting room and carried it outside her door to stand guard….stand guard…he crumbled into the chair, his face falling into his hands because he realized there was no one to guard anymore. He didn't do his job. He didn't guard her like he told his dad that he would…and his thoughts kept going from there, only getting worse.

"Stiles?" The sheriff stumbled down the hallway feeling numb. How could this have happened? He knew his wife was dying, but he still wasn't prepared for this. He wasn't prepared to deal with his son. His son wasn't supposed to be there alone. None of this was supposed to happen.

The two were planted in their separate locations, Stiles in the chair and the Sheriff against the wall, not knowing what to do now. How could they be a family without Claudia? How could the sheriff be a dad without being a husband? They would have stayed like that too if it hadn't been for a little dark-haired boy running down the hallway yelling, "Stiles! Stiles!" Scott came sliding to a stop in front of his best friend. "It's okay, I'm here now." He wrapped his arms around his friend and was just there. He listened to Stiles mumble nonsense about not standing guard and fake plastic hope and whatever else. He nodded and hushed his friend, telling him it would be okay.

Finally Stiles couldn't take it. "How will it be okay? How can you say that? How can you have hope? She's gone Scott. My mom is…she's…" Stiles couldn't say it, not yet. But he couldn't deal with the fakeness anymore, at least not from his best friend.

Scott smiled. "Your mom used to say we were invincible Stiles. And we still have each other, right? So we will make it through this, just like your mom told me we would. It's just going to take time. It's going to hurt but I'll be here. I'll always be here." Scott put an arm around his friend, thinking of his conversation with Claudia.

_"He's going to be mad and sad, maybe a little guilty. He's going to hurt. But you have to be there for him and remind him that one day it will be better. And you have to stay by his said, because that's what brothers do and you two are so much more than just brothers." She smiled and touched his cheek as they sat at the table early one morning while Stiles still slept. "Be his hope Scott."_

_ Scott nodded, not wanting to think about losing his second mother. "Okay. I'll be there for him. I promise, I'll always be there for him." It was a promise he never wanted to break._

Stiles fell into his friend. He knew his friend wasn't fake. He wasn't plastic and useless like the waiting room, like the chair he was sitting in. Scott was real and deep down Stiles knew that Scott was telling the truth, things would get better one day. But right now he just wanted to cry. So he grabbed his friend, his hope in a room full of plastic lies, and cried and cried.


	9. Chapter 9: Stitches

**Stitches**

There was no cliché. It wasn't raining or cloudy. There was no dreary weather to match the feelings dwelling deep inside Stiles as he put on his suit, a suit his mom had helped him pick out. No, on the day of his mother's funeral the sun was shining. The sun was bright and beautiful while birds sang wondrous songs and kids played in the streets laughing. Because, as Stiles has learned, the world keeps moving. Everyone and everything around you keeps on living as normal while your world crumbles around you. People smile and laugh while all you want to do is cry and hit something. He hated it.

A soft knock on his door pulled him away from his miserable thoughts. "Yeah?" He looked up from the tie he couldn't tie, stopping the panic attack that was waiting below the surface. _What if he couldn't get the tie tied? What kind of son didn't wear a tie to his mom's funeral? His mom's funeral…_

Scott came shyly into the room. He hadn't seen his best friend since the hospital. "Hey buddy. My mom is helping your dad get everything ready. I thought I could help you." Scott walked over and looked at the tie. "But I have no clue how to do this…" He bit his lip trying to think and then smiled. "But I can do this." He took off his own tie, a clip on, and placed it on Stiles. "There you go."

Stiles tried to smile, he really did, but his cheeks just weren't working. "Thanks Scott." Stiles sat on his bed, his knee bouncing. He wanted to just sit still, to mourn in peace, but his body couldn't stop moving. It was the first time he truly hated his ADHD. "Scott, I don't think I can do this. I haven't slept right ever since…I have these moments when I can't breathe…" He tried so hard not to cry.

Sitting next to his friend, Scott put his arm around Stiles' shoulders. "That's why I'm here. I'm here to help you through when you think you can't go anymore. You're my brother Stiles. This is what brothers are for. It's going to be okay." He put a hand on Stiles' leg, calming the jumpiness.

After a moment of silence and a few deep breathes the two went to wait for their parents, the parents they had left anyway, and then they all drove to the funeral in silence. They stood by the casket while old friends, family, and even strangers came by to cry on their shoulders and tell them how tragic it all was. To tell them how sorry they were, but they weren't sorry enough to stop by when Claudia had been alive and sick. Every time Stiles thought he was going to lose it he would look over at Scott, waiting patiently in the first row of chairs, who would give him a smile and his emotions would calm.

Finally came the time to go to the cemetery. Stiles felt a rock growing in his stomach. There was a full police parade surrounding the hearse on the way there. He walked numbly, holding onto the casket, as his dad and some other police officers carried the casket to its destination, the machine that was meant to lower his mom into the ground, away from him for good. Stiles knew he had asked his dad if he could say something before they lowered his mom but now he regretted it. He didn't think he could speak, which was a first for him.

But after the priest had said his peace he turned to Stiles. The sheriff gave his son a small nudge trying to encourage him to walk up but it felt like a violent push to the boy. Stiles stumbled up to the casket, trying not to look at the shining wood. He had written what he would say about his mom but shoving his hands into his pockets, he realized he'd left the piece of paper at home so he just opened his mouth. "Did you know that burying someone six feet under started in England during the plague in hopes of keeping the disease from spreading? Now you only need at least 18 inches of top soil above the coffin. We have shallower graves, huh…" He looked down at his hands. "And in America we wear black to funerals because we see black as a color of mourning but did you know that in place like China they wear white because white is the color of mourning. Although some wear black to represent the idea of ashes to ashes and dust to dust in the Bible instead of just a color of mourning. And you know…" Fact after fact of funeral traditions came pouring out of the boy's mouth. Once he started he couldn't stop. He had looked up funeral traditions the night before when preparing himself (and to be honest, when he couldn't sleep and could hear his dad crying and drinking in the other room).

No one knew how to stop him or if they should. But when he started to explain the embalming process someone placed a hand on his shoulder and he finally looked up, tears threatening to fall in the corners of his eyes, and he saw Scott standing next to him. "It's okay Stiles." That was all he needed to hear.

Stiles finally looked at the coffin. "My mom is dead. She was the best mom in the world. She told me stories at night even when she had told them a thousand times. She never got mad at me when I couldn't sit still or stop talking. She would sing to me when I was scared or sick. She would tuck me in and run her hand through my hair whenever she put me to bed…" Stiles wiped his eyes. "She picked me up from school every day." He had to lean on his best friend after that statement because the guilt was too much. "She deserved more than this. She was my mom, the best mom, and now she's gone."

"Gone but not forgotten." Scott put his arm around his friend's shoulders. "We'll never forget her; she'll always live in our memories. And if she's always in our memories then she can never really, truly die." Scott rubbed his friend's back as he started to cry openly. "It'll be okay."

Stiles nodded and the two went back to their seats, huddled together as the casket was lowered into the ground. "Do you mean it Scott?"

Scott nodded. "Of course I do. As long as we don't forget, she'll always be here." And for the first time since the hospital Stiles felt like the horrible, terrible gash that had been ripped through his heart when his mother died was starting to heal. He knew it would never fully heal, there would most definitely be a scar, but maybe it wouldn't always been open…just as long as he had Scott because Scott was the stitches holding him together.

It had been a few weeks since the funeral. It had been a rough time in the Stilinski household to say the least. The sheriff was doing his best to keep it together but all he wanted to do was drink himself into a stupor where he didn't remember the death of his wife, where he could be held in blissful ignorance. But he also had a son, a job, and plenty of medical bills that needed to be paid off so he pushed through every day until he could drink himself to sleep and start it all over again with a numbing hangover. And Stiles tried his best to take care of his dad like he had taken care of his mom while trying to overcome the panic attacks that now plagued him.

The simplest thing would set them off, such as walking into the bathroom and catching a sniff of her soap or perfume or searching the TV channels only to fall on her favorite show. But the worst ones came at night during dinner when Claudia would have made a meal or when she would have tucked Stiles in. But the absolute worst was whenever Stiles had to walk home from school alone…

One day though, Stiles was at the McCall's after school. John knew he needed to get himself put together. He needed to find a way to be a single parent, like Melissa. So he needed a weekend to himself to set himself straight, and Melissa seemed to understand. So Stiles followed Scott home on Friday, the two of them on their bikes. "God, I can't wait until we can drive. I hate riding this thing around." Stiles grumbled as they pushed their way up a hill.

"Whatever, it's not that bad." Scott took deep breathes.

Stiles gave his friend a wary look. "Do you need your inhaler?"

Scott just rolled his eyes as they came up to his house. "No, I'm fine _Mom_." They ditched the bikes as thunder began to roll and the light mist turned into a heavy rain. "Well this changes my plans a bit, I guess it's a good thing mom is gone." He smiled. Scott knew he needed to get his best friend out of this grief-stricken funk and he had one idea.

"What are you talking about Scottie?"

Scott smiled as they ran into the house and he pulled out two Lacrosse sticks from the closet. "We are going to be in Jr. High next year. That means we can try out for the school's team. If we get onto the school's team now then we won't be bench warmers in high school. So, we're going to start practicing today." He beamed proudly and held out a stick to his friend.

"You've got to be kidding me. You have asthma and I'm extremely uncoordinated. We are definitely going to be bench warmers. Accept it Scott. The sooner you do the better." He argued but took the stick anyways. "And it's storming outside. How are we going to practice?" Stiles knew he was being a downer but he couldn't help it. He was stuck in this little fog he couldn't get out of.

That's when Scott pulled out the Lacrosse ball. "We're going to play inside. I mean, if we can dodge furniture then we can dodge sixth graders." He laughed and tossed the ball at Stiles, who amazingly enough caught it. "See! We're going to be Lacrosse champions! The coach will never forget us. Just you wait and see."

Stiles laughed, actually laughed. "Yeah, okay, whatever you say buddy. Go long, and watch out for that mean looking armchair trying to block you!" And so the game began.

It wasn't long before the two were both into the game, dodging furniture and throwing back and forth to each other, Stiles giving ridiculous commentary, "And an incredible save by McCall, that was a close one. I really thought the lamp was going to steal that one" and the fog seemed to be lifting or at least momentarily forgotten. Even when the storm cut the electricity neither boy noticed, completely caught up in their game. That is, until Scott jumped and dove for a catch by Stiles, landing on the coffee table with a glass top…his head making a terrible noise as the glass shattered.

Stiles felt his heart drop as thunder shook the house and he ran to his best friend. "Scott, Scott buddy, are you okay?" He began to shake as he saw blood covering the area. Stiles tried lifting his friend by the shoulders only to see blood covering Scott's face. "Oh god, buddy…"

"'M find…" Scott's head was killing him and so was his cheek. "My cheek…" He started to lift his hand to his face when Stiles stopped him.

"There's a big piece of glass in your cheek Scott. I'm so sorry Scott, I didn't mean to, I'm sorry…"

Scott shook his head. "No, it's fine. Just take it out." He gritted his teeth.

Stiles nodded and put on hand on his friends shoulder. "Alright, on three. One, two…" As he said the word two he pulled the glass out of his friend's face and Scott yelled. More blood fell down his face, mixing with tears. "I have to call your mom." He ran to the phone but when he picked it up there was no dial tone. "Damn storm…" He ran back to his friend, putting a wet washcloth on the deep cut and putting some pressure on it. "You could have a concussion and that cut needs stitches for sure." Stiles began to panic…no, he couldn't panic here. It was one thing to have panic attacks at home, especially at night time when his mom was supposed to be tucking him in, but he couldn't have one here. NO, Stiles had to focus on Scott. So that's what he did, he kept himself focused on Scott and getting him help instead of the panic. "I'm going to take you to your mom, just keep this cloth on your face and don't fall asleep on me, okay?" He waited for a nod, which he got, before moving into action.

Stiles pulled Scott to his feet and helped him outside, situating him on Stiles' bike's handlebars, and peddled as fast as he could to the ER, keeping one hand on Scott to make sure he didn't fall. Once they got to the ER he grabbed Scott, letting the woozy boy lean heavily on him, and ran inside yelling for Melissa. "Melissa McCall! I need nurse McCall!"

Melissa, who was asking a patient about their history heard the boy's cries and came running out seeing her boy with a bloody cloth held to his face. "Dead God, what happened?"

Stiles shook his head. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. We were playing Lacrosse inside and I threw the ball to him and he hit the coffee table and broke the glass with his face. A piece of it was in his cheek. I'm sorry, it's all my fault. The storm cut out the phone so I just brought him here myself. I'm sorry. I promise I won't let it happen again…" He started babbling on and on trying not to cry.

"Stiles, honey, it's okay." Melissa put a hand on Stiles' shoulder. "Let's just see what's going on." She lead the boys into a room and assessed the damage. There was a mild concussion, nothing to worry about. He wouldn't even need to stay the night for it. He would need stitches in his cheek though, but not many. Scott left that night when Melissa finished her shift, feeling just fine. Stiles was the one who felt terrible. "Stiles, he's fine." Melissa reassured as they drove home.

Scott looked up from the ice cream they stopped to pick up on their way home. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Stiles kept looking out the window. "You had to get stitches because of me."

Scott turned around in his seat. "Yeah, I got to get stitches because of you. That means I get an awesome scar. Chicks love scars Stiles. When they ask about it I'll say it was a Lacrosse incident and they will think it's cool. I bet if I tell the high school coach I got stitches from playing he will think I'm a badass or something and instantly put me on first line."

"Scott, language." Melissa tried to be stern but couldn't stop smiling.

Scott shrugged. "Whatever. What I'm trying to say Stiles, is that accidents happen. Bad stuff happens but we move on. We have to see the good in it. I mean not everyone would have put me on their handlebars and taken me to the ER. You made up for it." He smiled and Stiles smiled back.

"Well not yet. You two still have to clean up the mess at home and I expect the two of you to work around the house all summer to pay for the broken table. Lacrosse in the house, really boys?" Melissa shook her head as the boys broke into ramblings of excuses and she couldn't help but smile. Maybe things really would be okay again…


	10. Chapter 10: Struggling to Breathe

**Struggling to Breathe**

Stiles tried to breathe, tried to listen to his dad's voice but all he could think about was the panic. _Oh god I'm going to die. I can't breathe; this is going to kill me. I'm going crazy like my mom…mom…God is this what Scott feels like when he can't breathe...Scott_. Scott. Stiles thought about some stupid joke Scott had butchered the other day, they decided he should leave the comedy to Stiles after that. And just like that his mind went away from the panic and he was able to follow his dad's breathing. "I'm okay." He said, finally catching his breath.

The sheriff wasn't ready to let his son go yet. "Stiles, you can't keep having these. It's not good for you, you aren't okay. And that's fine, it's just…I want you to be okay. Please, just go to the school counselor like I asked you to. I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to stuff like this. It's not just the panic attacks now. You've started sleepwalking. What happens if I don't stop you from walking out of the house one night?"

There was nothing but exhaustion and desperation in his dad's voice, which made Stiles' heart melt. He felt terrible for what he was putting his dad through. The poor man was grieving too, he didn't need a messed up kid on top of a dead wife. "Okay dad, I'll go."

With a sigh of relief, the sheriff let go of his son. "Okay, good, I'll call tomorrow morning and let them know." He stood up. "Let's eat dinner, and Stiles." He helped his son up. "Thank you."

Stiles smiled. "Don't thank me just yet. I heard you on the phone with your doctor today. Those lab results are pathetic dad. If I have to see a counselor, then you have to eat healthy." He sat down at the table. "We have to take care of each other, we promised mom."

The sheriff smiled and ran his hand through his son's hair before sitting down. "Alright kid. We'll take care of each other. But I'm not eating spinach."

The last day of summer before their first day of sixth grade, Sheriff Stilinski dropped his son off at the McCall's house. He tried not to be too worried. It will be the first night Stiles spends away from home since the nightmares, panic attacks, and sleepwalking had started. He had kept his son close to home ever since his wife died. He knew Melissa would take care of his son, she understood and already knew what to do, but he couldn't help but worry.

Stiles did his best to smile, tried not to worry his dad, but he's scared he will have a panic attack in front of his best friend. Or maybe he will start sleepwalking and his dad won't be there to wake him up. He told his dad it was okay. There was no way his dad could get him to school; he had too early of a shift, so this was the only option. But it scared him.

"Stiles! Hey, one more night of freedom! Do you want to play…"

"Please don't say Lacrosse." Stiles scrunched his face. "You can't start a sentence about freedom and end it with Lacrosse." He gave his friend's shoulder a bit of a shove.

Melissa smiled. "If you two play Lacrosse, you better go outside. There's no more playing that awful sport inside anymore." She laughed as she let the sheriff into the house and the boys ran past them.

"Don't worry Melissa, I won't let him hurt himself too bad." Stiles laughed and the two were gone.

Melissa couldn't help but frown a little bit and of course the sheriff caught it because over the course of many years with their son's being best friends they had become best friends themselves. "Hey, are you okay? Can you handle them?"

The nurse shook her head and smiled. "Yeah, it's just…he hasn't called me by my first name in a long time. I got used to him calling me Mom. I mean, I understand, it's just…" She shook her head again and tried to smile. "It's fine. He will be fine."

"I know. It's just going to take time. He's finally making jokes again and he agreed to talk to the school counselor. It's a step in the right direction." He sighed. "If he…"

Melissa put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I know how to handle a panic attack. And I'm a light sleeper. I'll hear him if he starts to sleepwalk. It will be okay." She gave him a reassuring smile and led him out the door.

"Hey mom, we're going to go down to the Lacrosse field to practice." Scott yelled over his shoulder as the boys left the house. "We'll be back for dinner, I promise!"

The two boys got onto their bikes and went to play their new favorite game (at least Scott's new favorite game). When they arrived at the field no one was there so they just took turns in goal, trying to make shots against each other. After half an hour a few more kids showed up, enough to play a small game. And, of course, because it's a bunch of pre-teen and teenage boys things got a little intense and because it's Lacrosse, it was rough. But it was a good workout and great practice.

They had been playing for almost an hour when Scott started to grab at his chest, unable to catch his breath. He had the feeling of drowning again. He put a hand to his pocket instinctively but his hand came back with a broken inhaler. And that's when the panic set in. Scott fell to his knees, trying to call out to his best friend but he couldn't focus on anything other than his breathing, or lack thereof. Each breath became more and more painful, his body feeling heavier each second. How could he have broken his inhaler? He's going to die…he can't breathe and now he's going to die…

"Scott? Scott! Hey, hold on buddy!" Stiles' panicked voice was the last thing Scott remembered hearing before blacking out.

Stiles felt his own chest tighten when he saw his friend fall to his knees on the other side of the field. He didn't care that he was about to make a goal, he dropped his Lacrosse stick, ball still inside, and ran to his friend kneeling on the ground. "Scott? Scott!" He fell to the ground by his friend reach into Scott's pocket hoping to find an inhaler but then saw the broken one on the ground. "Hey, hold on buddy!" Stiles ran to their bags, dropping to his own knees, trying not to cry, "Come on, come on…" But no extra inhaler fell from the bags as he dumped them. "Damn it!" He wanted to punch himself for leaving Scott's emergency extra inhaler in his backpack.

Stiles ran back to his friend, the other boys standing around, unsure of what to do and asking Stiles what was happening. "Scott? Scott can you hear me?" Panic started to bubble deep in Stiles' chest as he noticed Scott's lips were turning blue. His mind went blank. _No, no, no, I can't lose my best friend. I can't let someone else die. I can't. Oh god, come on. You can't have a panic attack here. Breathe, come on, breathe…_

"Stiles what do we do?" A boy with dark hair named Danny put a hand on Stiles' shoulder making Stiles' jump.

"Um, we need." Stiles tried to catch his own breath. _Come on, focus! Scott needs you! Focus on Scott, not the panic! _Focusing his thoughts on saving his best friend, Stiles took a deep breath. "One of you run to the pay phone, dial zero and tell the operator we need an ambulance. Tell them that Scott McCall is having an asthma attack on the Lacrosse field. We need to get to the hospital and we need them to call his mom. Go!" He tried to stay calm as he positioned himself behind his friend, a hand moving his Scott's chest. "Come on Scott, breath, you have to keep breathing…" That's when he noticed Scott wasn't breathing, his chest barely moving up or down.

Without thinking, without letting the panic come back, Stiles laid Scott down and began to deliver sweet breath to his best friend, just as his father and Melissa had shown the boys when they were taught CPR. And he breathed for his friend until the paramedics showed up, pushing him aside and taking Scott away.

In the ambulance, Stiles clung to his friend's hand. _My mom didn't have anyone to hold her hand in the ambulance…where did that come from?_ The panic started to build again, Stiles' chest tightening again and his heart beginning to race. _No stop it! Scott needs you!_ He gave a tight squeeze to his best friend's hand and the panic started to dim. And he stayed with his friend, even when the nurses tried to pull him away. Even when Melissa tried to, he wouldn't leave Scott's side.

Stiles sat by Melissa in the hospital room, waiting desperately for his friend to wake up now that he was breathing correctly. _This room…it's just like Mom's. What if it is the same room? What if you have to watch your best friend die in the same room you watched your mom die in?_ The panic started all over again, this time much stronger. Stiles couldn't breathe. _He's pale and broken lying in a hospital bed, just like her. And it's all your fault, just like her…_

But luckily this is when Scott decided to open his eyes, allowing Stiles to breathe again. "Hey Scott!" Stiles jumped up and ran to the bed, trying to restrain himself from jumping onto the bed. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?" He had gone so long in silence his mouth didn't want to stop moving.

Scott smiled weakly. "I'm. Okay." He let out, still feeling weak with his throat a little raw. He took several deep breathes, relishing in the sweet oxygen.

"Good." Stiles smiled then hit his friend. "Don't you ever do that to me again!"

Scott winced a little. "You deserve that Scott. I can't believe you put your inhaler in your pocket where it could get smashed." Melissa stood up, walking over to her son, trying not to cry. "You better thank Stiles, he saved your life."

"Again." Scott let a little huff out that was meant to be a laugh. "Thank. You. Stiles."

Stiles wasn't smiling anymore. _Why is he thanking me? He's the one who kept me from panicking. I could have killed him… _"Just don't do it again Scott or I won't let you play Lacrosse ever again." They all laughed a little, settling into a good mood now that everything was okay, everyone was okay.

The boys spent their last night of the summer in the hospital, breathing just fine…

[Hey, so there will be more about what Stiles' felt seeing Scott in the hospital bed next chapter but if there is anything else, ideas or suggestions, for future stories with the boys let me know. Thank you for the reviews, they make my day :) ]


	11. Chapter 11: Talking, Not Rambling

**Talking not Rambling**

It was the first day of sixth grade, the first day of Jr. High for the boys. Both boys were hoping for something new. It was a new building even if it was mostly the same kids. It was a step closer to high school and more freedom. It was hopefully a time for people to stop looking at Stiles with sad and pity filled eyes and a time for Lacrosse and the cool kid table for Scott. It was supposed to be a new beginning, a step in the right direction. "And if we mess it up, then at least we get another shot at it in a few years when we go into high school." Stiles joked as he prepared to leave the hospital. Scott was allowed to go home that morning, not long after Stiles left, but he wasn't going to school no matter his arguments.

"I can't believe I'm missing it." Scott groaned.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "You're missing school and complaining about it, there is obviously something wrong with you." He picked up his backpack. "Well I better get going; I have to venture on without you. Thanks for that, again." His voice was bitter, his glaze still not fully taking in Scott. "Bye."

Scott didn't understand his friend's extra uneasiness but he wasn't going to question him about it just yet. "Hey, I'm sorry dude. I'll see you after school."

"Yeah, see you." Stiles pulled on his bag and left the hospital, avoiding the sterile and plastic stench of the place. He was dreading this day. Not only was he going to have to trudge through school without his trusty sidekick but he had to talk to the school counselor today. Stiles loved to talk, he was always rambling, but have to talk to a counselor was different. He didn't want to talk about what she wanted him to talk about.

Classes seemed to be a blur. A few kids and teachers sent pitied looks his way but he tried to ignore them and just get through the day until he could visit Scott and go home. But then lunch came…he grabbed his food and went to the counselor's office as he was instructed to do. "Stiles." A dark-skinned, dark-haired young woman gave him a small smile. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Stilinski."

Stiles looked at the name plate on the desk. "Um, hi, Mr. Hansen?"

The young woman didn't laugh, just smiled a little wider. "Mr. Hansen left last year. They have yet to hire someone new. I'm the new counselor at the high school so they've asked me to come until they can hire someone else. My name is Ms. Morrell. Please sit." She motioned for the boy to sit in front of her desk.

Stiles sat down with his tray sitting awkwardly on his lap, his knee bouncing making the school square pizza jump. "So, what are we supposed to do now? Are you going to show me some inkblots and tell me the voices aren't real?" He laughed nervously.

"Stiles, this isn't a psychiatrist's office. I'm just here to talk. Your dad said you've been having some issues since your mother passed. We're hoping that you could open up and maybe some of those problems could go away. Whatever is troubling you, I won't judge. I'm just here to listen and help only if you want it." Her voice was even and calm.

The boy took a large bite of his pizza. "I'm trying out for lacrosse this year. Well, Scott and I are trying of for the team." Stiles started rambling, hoping that he could waste time staying away from talking about the things that scared him, the things that brought the panic. "I'm sure Scott will make it, that's if he doesn't have an asthma attack during the tryouts that is. I don't think I'll make first line but I think I'll make the team even if I'm just a benchwarmer. My dad says he doesn't care if I join the team or not but I think he cares. He's the one you should be talking to. The man's a mess. Do you know what his cholesterol levels were at his last doctor's visit? You know some of the weirdest things are supposed to lower cholesterol…"

"Stiles." Ms. Morrell interrupted but kept her voice calm. "If your knee starts to bounce any more you're going to spill your lunch."

Stiles looked down at his lap seeing his food had all mixed together and his milk had spilt onto the tray. "Sorry. I can't really stop that. I mean on a good day I can't keep completely still even with the medication. I'm always twitching somewhere. But then you have a day like today and…" He stopped, fearing he was getting close to something serious. "Did you know psychology was started by philosophers? Wilhelm Wundt used introspection to…"

"Yes Stiles, I went to school for psychology. I'm fully aware of its starts. Why don't you tell me why you're twitchier today?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "First day back, first day is always tough and Scott isn't even here. That idiot, you should probably talk to him too. He's going to get himself killed one of these days. I think he has some death wish. I mean, what kid who has had asthma for years puts his inhaler in his flimsy pocket when playing lacrosse? And at the beginning of the summer he had to get stitches because of lacrosse. I honestly don't understand why he even wants to play the sport if he keeps getting hurt playing it." He took a breath; the subject was too close to the panic. _He got hurt because of you_. "Did you know that lacrosse was started by some Plains Indian tribes in Northern American…" He went into a long speech of the history of the sport, taking a few breaths between sentences.

Ms. Morrell stayed calm, now understanding the sheriff's uneasiness and concern. The boy could talk, no problem with words, but getting him to talk about something useful or truly meaningful was going to be the real challenge. "Stiles. You have yet to talk about you." The boy stopped and shrugged his shoulders again. "Tell me about your panic attacks. What trigger's them?" Again the boy shrugged. "Stiles, you're here to talk. Rambling isn't talking. I need real communication from you if this is going to work. Rambling about useless things to waste time isn't going to help you. You need to really talk." Just as she made this confession the bell rang. "I'll see you tomorrow Stiles, think about what I said Stiles; talking, not rambling."

Stiles nodded and ran from the office, trying to keep his mind from what she had said. It made no sense. Rambling was talking. It was communication, words, and mouth movement. How is that not talking?

Again the rest of the day was a blur without his best friend. He gathered his things, along with papers (and even some homework, wow Jr. High sucked) and books for Scott before finally heading home at the end of the day.

It seemed like it have been years since he had seen his friend when he flung open the McCall door without knocking and sprinted up the stairs to Scott's room. "Dude, be glad you missed. It was so boring! I don't know why you were excited about sixth grade. We have homework to do, bro."

"Why are you complaining about homework? You're the smart one, remember?" Scott laughed as he paused the video game he was playing. "Did you get Lydia to notice you today?"

Stiles dropped his bag and fell on the bed. "No, but I have a plan. She will know who I am by the end of high school. Listen to this…" _Talking, not rambling. _A voice in his head made him stop himself from going on a big rant about nothing. "Never mind about Lydia, so did you know that I had to go to the school counselor today?" Stiles bit on his thumbnail and Scott shook his head. "She said that weirdest thing. She said that I don't communicate or well talk, at least not really, that I just ramble."

Scott laughed a little, earning himself an offended looked from his best friend. "Yeah, sorry but she's kind of right. You are always rambling but it doesn't usually mean anything. In fact, it usually means you're avoiding something or you're bored. You hate talking about your feelings."

Jaw-dropped, Stiles crossed his arms. "That's not true."

"Oh yeah? Then why are you seeing the school counselor Stiles?"

"I've been having some issues…Did you know school counseling didn't start until the 20th century in the United States? Jesse B. Davis…"

"Stiles, bro, you're doing it right now!" Scott threw his hands into the air and starting laughing. "I'm telling you, you ramble when you don't want to talk."

Stiles sighed. _This is your best friend, you can talk to him. _"I've been having problems with panic attacks and sleepwalking since my mom…" He still couldn't say it, but this was Scott he should be able to say it. "Since my mom died." He fell back onto the bed. "You know, yesterday, when you had that asthma attack your lips turned blue and your chest wasn't moving…I had to breathe for you Scott. I held your hand in the ambulance and all I could think about was that my mom didn't have someone to hold her hand when she was in the ambulance. Then you were lying in a hospital bed and Scott…" Stiles wiped his cheeks feeling tears suddenly rushing down. "I kept thinking about her. I can't watch you die Scott. I can't see you in the hospital like that again. You looked dead. You looked…You looked like her. And I just…I couldn't…" He covered his face, his body shaking. "Damn it, I'm rambling again."

Scott moved to the bed and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "No, this isn't rambling Stiles. I'm sorry I had to put you in that situation. I promise I won't mess around with my inhaler again."

"Ha, yeah you will. You will break another one or lose one. But that's okay, because I'll carry an extra from now on. I won't leave it in one bag." Stiles kept wiping his tears. "Scott, just don't scare me like that. Please, I can't take it." He tried to stop the tears, he'd been doing a great job keeping them at bay since the funeral, but once they started they couldn't be stopped. "I miss her so much."

Scott wrapped an arm around his friend. "I'm sorry Stiles, I'm so sorry. But I'm here, I'll always be here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise." The two sat there until the tears managed to slow down but Scott still held onto his friend. "And Stiles, I'll always listen to you. I'll listen when you're talking like this, you know really talking, or when you're just rambling. I'll always be here to listen."

Stiles smiled. It didn't matter what kind of words spilled from his mouth, it was always talking when it was with Scott. Scott understood him. "Thanks Scott." He knew tomorrow would be better. The classes would be better with his friend and seeing the counselor couldn't be as scary now that he knew how to talk instead of just ramble.

Hey, I don't feel like this is my best work but I liked the idea so I went with it. If you guys have anymore possible ideas let me know. I have a few more but I always like feedback and suggestions. Thanks :)


	12. Chapter 12: Sticks&Stones & Broken Bones

**Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones**

Sixth grade, it turned out, happened to not be as great as Scott expected. The classes were harder than ever, his puppy eyes weren't working on the teachers like they did before and he just didn't understand the material like Stiles did. Having Stiles in his classes was the only saving grace. And if it weren't for Stiles helping him with homework, he wasn't sure he would pass. _God what is high school going to be like? I'm never going to pass…_

But the school work wasn't the worst part. The group of assholes, led by a kid named Jackson, that had made it their new life goal to torture Scott and Stiles, they were what made life miserable. What was worse, was lunch. Scott had to endure the mocking and shoving all alone while Stiles went to the school counselor. But Scott knew how important it was for Stiles to be talking to someone so he didn't say anything, he just endured it. He had to.

A few times he asked Stiles why he wasn't as bothered by it but his friend just shrugged. "I don't know, it just doesn't bother me. There are more important things in life. Plus, we have each other. We will always be best friends. Do you really think their friendship means a whole lot if they have to bully us so they can catch a few laughs together?" It just seemed so simple to Stiles. "Sticks and stones my brother, sticks and stones."

The breaking point was when Scott came outside late, after having to spend the end of the day in detention because Stiles and he had gotten into trouble. The two were walking out, complaining about how it wasn't even their fault (the teacher had knowing paired them together for the lab) when they saw Jackson and his fellow boneheads smashing Scott's bike. "Hey!" Stiles started to run up to them but Scott held his arm. "We have to stop them! Sticks and stones may break your bones, words will never hurt you, but ruining your bike will definitely damper your life for a bit! You'll have to walk to school and everywhere else when your mom is at work. We have to stop them." He was ready and willing to fight for his friend, broken bones be damned.

Scott shook his head, angry but also resigned. "We can't stop them Stiles. It's like they're always telling me at lunch. We're no bodies. We're nothing. I'm nothing. Let's just walk home." He let his shoulder hang low as he started walking before making sure Stiles would follow.

Completely stunned by his friend Stiles walked by the sadden Scott in silence even though his bike hadn't been vandalized. But as they walked, Stiles formed an idea in his head. He wouldn't let this get his friend down. He wouldn't let these bullies down. Plan A had been to fight for the bike but this Plan B would work even better. Stiles' Plan B's always seemed to work better anyways.

As they stopped by Scott's house, Stiles grabbed Scott's arm. "You're not nothing Scott. You're not nobody. You're my best friend. That's makes you pretty important, at least to me." He smiled but Scott just shrugged.

Stiles took off back to the school, grabbing his bike, pedaling home to grab his cash stash, and heading to the police station with a determined look on his face and pedaling faster than he ever had.

The next day Scott couldn't pull himself out of bed. He was trying to convince his mom he was sick when they heard the front door open and slam. "Scott?! Hey Scott we're going to be late!" Stiles yelled from the front door.

Scott groaned and rolled out of bed, fully intending to tell his best friend off but stopped once he got to the stairs and saw his best friend smiling wide holding something in his arms. "Stiles, what is that?" He knew was it was but he had to ask.

Holding out the gift proud, Stiles began to ramble. "I got you a skateboard! The police station has to sale stuff in evidence or stuff involved in certain cases every now and then once the case is closed to make room. This was used in a drug deal or something, I don't know, but it's yours now! Now you won't have to walk to school next to my bike while we're waiting for yours to get fixed, which I dropped off to get fixed by the way. Oh and you can put it inside during school so you don't have to worry about those jerks ruining it." Stiles seemed to say it all in one breath and would have kept going if Scott hadn't stopped him by bounding down the stairs and wrapping his arms around his friend.

Scott took the board and looked at it, it was perfect. "I can't believe you did this." He looked up at his friend in amazement.

Stiles shrugged. "Well I wouldn't do it for just nobody." He smiled. "Now, come on, try it out! We're going to be late if you don't get your butt in gear!" He winked to Melissa, who was standing on the stairs with a soft smile on her face.

Putting the board on the ground, Scott got on and pushed off. He had borrowed a few friends' skateboards to mess around with over the years and loved them but had never had his own before. He was so excited he had forgotten all he had been told about skateboards and about the rug…before he knew it he was flying off the skateboard and landing on the windowsill with a sickening noise.

"Scott!" Both Melissa and Stiles yelled out as they ran to the boy.

Scott moaned as his mom turned him over. "Well I guess you aren't going to school after all." She shook her head as she examined her son's collarbone, Scott flinching shamelessly at her examination. "God I hope it's not broken." She looked up to her son's face expecting tears but saw a smile. "Maybe you have a concussion too…"

"That was awesome. Thanks Stiles." Scott smiled at his friend over his mom's shoulder.

Stiles gave him a thumbs up and a big sarcastic smile back. "Yeah, whatever you say buddy." And the two missed a day of school, joking around and reassuring each other that they weren't nothing. They were brothers and what more could they want? "Lacrosse sticks and skateboards may break your bones but don't you ever let words do that to you again."

Hey, so there's my explanation for Scott's collarbone (episode 3x23). I have a story about Stiles' sleepwalking/nightmares that I was going to put here, well it was going to be this chapter instead of this story, but there wasn't much of Scott and it didn't involve their friendship in anyway so I decided not to put it with this story, however I'm going to post it as it's own story since I already wrote but it's a lot like this, just thought I'd put that out there, it's called Loss and Lavender.

Thanks! Review and have a wonderful day!


	13. Chapter 13: Fever

**Fever**

Strep was a stupid bacterial infection that was making Stiles' life hell which in turn was making Scott's life hell. The sickness had been making its rounds around school for the past few weeks and had finally made Stiles its next victim. He had missed two days of school. Scott hoped that his friend would be better now that it was the weekend but no luck. It probably had something to do with the fact that Stiles waited so long to tell his dad that he was sick. If it hadn't been for Scott dragging his friend home and telling his mom, the nurse, Stiles' sickness might have gone on much longer. Stiles had called Scott a traitor, but Scott just smiled as Melissa took Stiles to the doctor.

Now it's a Saturday morning and Scott is listening to his mom talking to the sheriff over the phone. "I can stay with him until noon, but then I have to go into work. I'm sorry… Yeah I know…Maybe…Yeah you're right. That stubborn boy, if he'd come to us sooner he would be feeling better…Still? Jesus… Have you tried calling…"

Scott waved his arm to get his mom's attention. "What's wrong?"

"Hold on." Melissa covered the bottom of the phone. "Stiles' dad has to go into work today, there's no avoiding it but Stiles isn't well enough to be left alone. He still has a fever and…"

"I'll watch him." Scott jumped in. He missed his friend who he was normally attached to at the hip and he wanted to help. Melissa and Stilinski do so much for each other and the boys, they shouldn't have to worry about this. "Mom, I can do it."

Melissa looked at her son wondering when he grew up. Where did the little kid playing in the sandbox go? Then she nodded, knowing this was the best option, if not the only option. "What if Scott stays with him? I can stay until I have to go to work and the two of us can call in and stop by during our breaks to make sure the boys are doing okay. Scott knows what to do." There was the silence in the room while Scott waited for the sheriff to answer. "Okay, we'll be there as soon as possible…no problem, goodbye." She hung up the phone with a sigh.

"So I can stay with Stiles today?" Scott smiled at the thought of seeing his friend.

The nurse gave her son a stern look. "Yes but you aren't going over there to hang out. You're going over there to make sure he's taken care of. He's pretty sick Scott. The antibiotics aren't working as quickly as they should be. They're worried about it moving into his lungs. He has a high fever and is pretty out of it. It's your job to make sure he gets plenty of liquids, is eating, sleeping, taking his medication, and checking his fever every so often. Can you do that?"

Scott nodded, his smile hiding. "Yes Mom, I can do that. I'll go get dressed." He ran off to get ready and the two went to the Stilinski home. "Hey Sheriff!"

"Hey kid. Stiles is sleeping right now thank god. He was up all night." The sheriff ran a hand over his worn face with deep, dark circles under his eyes. "He took his meds about fifteen minutes ago. I've got to go, I'm already running late. Melissa…"

Melissa gave the man a sympathetic smile and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, we've got it. I know what he needs, I'll make sure Scott knows. Just go."

"Thank you." With that the tired man left.

"Alright, first things first, see these?" Melissa walked over to the table and held up two orange bottles. "This one, he needs to take every four hours." She shook the bottle in her right hand. "And this one he needs every six hours." She shook the other bottle. "Got it?" Scott took the bottles and studied them before nodding. "Good. Now, always keep a bottle of water in the room. Any chance you get, make him drink it. If he's really complaining about his throat you can make him some tea. I brought some chamomile tea." She pulled out a box. "You know how to do that?" Scott nodded. "Make sure you put plenty of honey in it, which will help. The sheriff left chicken noddle soup in the cabinet, there's plenty of it. Try to get him to eat at least one bowl. Also, check his temperature every time you give him his meds, if it starts to rise call me."

Scott nodded again. "Do I, um. Should I wake him up?"

Melissa shook her head. "Don't wake him up if you don't have to. If he sleeps through lunch then let him. The only time you wake him up is to give him medication. During that time you can try to get him to drink but let him sleep. Sleep is good." She smiled and kissed the top of her son's head. "And don't forget you can call me or the sheriff whenever you need to."

The two sat around for a while, Melissa going to check on the sick one a few times, before Melissa finally left for work, leaving Scott all alone. He hadn't gone up to see his friend yet. After hearing his mom's instructions he was starting to get a little afraid. What if he woke him up? What if he made it worse? What if his fever got worse? Oh god, what if he threw up?

But curiosity and purely just missing his friend got the better of him and Scott ventured up the stairs to see his friend. He slowly creaks open the door, still a little afraid of what he might see. On the bed Stiles laid there sleeping, sweat covering his face and his body twitching every now and then. "No, no, no, mom…" Stiles started to mumble in his sleep.

Scott checked the clock and saw that it was time for Stiles to take his medication. Scott slowly went over to his distressed friend. "Hey, buddy…" He shook him gently.

Before Scott could say anything else Stiles latched onto his wrist. "Mom? Mom I don't feel good, please make it better." The desperation in his voice almost broke Scott's heart. "My throat hurts, make me your tea Mommy, please." He rolled over and his grip on Scott tightened, his second hand coming up and gripping onto Scott's shirt. The fever really had its hold on the boy.

For two long seconds Scott didn't know what to do. He'd never seen Stiles like this. "Um, Stiles, you need to take your medication. If you do that and eat some soup then I'll make you tea, okay buddy?" He wasn't going to say that his mom wasn't there, he couldn't do that to his best friend. "Can you do that for me?" In response Stiles just nodded. "Alright, I'll be right back."

"No!" It would have been a yell if his throat wasn't so sore. "Don't leave."

Scott ran his hand through Stiles' hair like he had seen Claudia do a thousand times, the same way Melissa ran her hand through his hair. "Shhh, it's okay Stiles. I'm just going to reheat the soup my mom made for you and your medication. Just stay awake long enough for that. I promise it won't take that long. Here, let's check your temperature again while you're waiting for me." Scott grabbed the thermometer by the side of the bed and placed it under Stiles' tongue. "Let that stay there, I'll be right back." He hit the button on the thermometer and ran downstairs.

After the quickest warming up of soup, Scott was back upstairs to find Stiles splayed out on the floor looking even more miserable. "Mom?" He called from the floor.

"Stiles! What are you doing on the floor?" Scott put the soup and meds down before running to his friend and helping him back onto the bed, finding out just how weak his friend was. "Stiles, can you tell me how you got on the floor?" He tried to stay calm but seeing his friend like that freaked him out.

The sick boy looked at his friend with confusion. "Scott?" He looked at his friend and then around the room. "I thought…" A tear fell down his face before he turned back to his friend. "I was trying to get to my mom, but she's…she's not here, why would I do that?" He wiped his face.

Scott propped his friend up on pillows. "It's okay, you're sick. Did you take your temperature?" He looked for the thermometer that was lying on the floor. It didn't have a finished temperature on it. "Here, take these and then put this under your tongue." The two sat in silence as Scott gave Stiles his medication and they waited until the thermometer beeped. "101.6, that's better than before right?" He smiled at his friend as he went to grab the group. "Alright, eat as much of this as you can and don't throw it up and we will call this a success."

Even though he wasn't calling Scott Mom, Stiles still was acting out-of-it. His eyes were watery and glassy, there were dark circles under his eyes, his skin was pale and clammy, and his body shook with a slight tremor. "Where is my dad?" He sounded like a little kid.

"He's at work. He got called in. Mom dropped me off here to watch you until one of them could get off work. Don't worry though, I've got you." Scott held the spoon up to his friend's mouth. "Come on, do I have to feed you this whole bowl?"

Stiles tried a smile before taking the spoon and slurping it down. "I thought I saw her." He whispered after eating a few spoonfuls. "She was sitting on my bed with me. I swear to God she was here Scott." Stiles pushed the bowl of soup away and curled into a ball on his bed. "I didn't think I could feel worse." He let tears fall down his face.

Scott put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's okay buddy. Your mom was the one who always took care of you when you were sick. I don't know what I'd do if…" He stopped himself from that line of thought. "But it's okay. I'll go make your mom's tea and then you will nap and when you wake up you'll feel better, I promise." Scott ran downstairs to make tea with honey, sugar, a few extra tea leafs, and Claudia's special ingredient (an ingredient she had told Scott and Stiles about one night when they were up late after scaring themselves with a stupid werewolf movie and needed a way to sleep).

When Scott came back into the room Stiles was sitting back up against the pillows where he'd finished the bowl of soup and was now taking a drink of water. "I feel a little better." He tried to smile again without barfing up the soup.

"Yeah but I'm sure your throat is still hurting, so here." Scott gave Stiles the tea in his favorite mug. The two sat there in silence as Stiles just stared at the mug. "Stiles? Are you okay? Are you going to puke or something? Do I need to call my mom or your dad?" Scott began to worry.

Stiles shook his head before taking a sip of his tea. "Put in a movie." Stiles' voice was a whisper but Scott heard it and obeyed. The two sat in silence as the movie played and Stiles' drank his tea. Not long after draining the mug, Stiles curled into a ball under his covers. "I wish my mom was here." He whispered right before falling into a deep sleep next to his best friend.

Scott looked over at his friend wishing there was more he could do. He wished there was some medication he could give to cure his broken heart and not just his strep and fever. Instead he went back downstairs and made another bowl of soup and mug of tea for when Stiles' woke up and went back to watch over his friend and help him in any way he could.

Sorry that this took so long to update. I had the story done but life kept keeping me from putting it up. Summer classes suck, but I'll do better. I have more ideas for future stories but again if there are any story ideas you would like to see just me know.

Have a great day :)


	14. Chapter 14: Partners in Crime

**Partners in Crime**

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Scott looked warily at his friend who was finally back at school after his bout with a bad case of strep. There were still faint circles under Stiles' eyes but the kid kept telling everyone he was fine.

Stiles groaned. "Scott I told you, dad, and your mom; I'm fine! It was strep, not some crazy demon possession. Get over it already." Stiles jumped back and forth on his feet; acting like his best friend hadn't seen him at his worse this past weekend. "So, last night I had this great idea. You know how Jackson is always being a jerk to us in the locker room? Well, I was thinking we could get him back. I mean, it's about time someone put that kid in his place." He rubbed his hands together.

Scott shook his head laughing, trying to forget the sight of his friend lying helplessly on the floor calling out for his dead mom. "Did you take your Adderall this morning?" Stiles looked like he was going to explode from Scott's question. So Scott raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, so what's this great idea?"

An evil smile spread across Stiles' face. "So, you know the old bucket over the door prank?" His smile grew even more when Scott nodded, confused. "I've improved it. Okay, listen to this…"

An hour later the two sat in the principal's office with blue paint and sparkles on their hands, heads, and splattered on their clothes…and on the P.E. teacher who was currently in the office talking (more like yelling) to their parents. "This was your great idea?" Scott tried not to be mad. "We were supposed to be popular, not the kids who are always in trouble."

Stiles could only shrug. "Sorry, I'll make sure there's a better Plan B next time."

Pranking at the school hadn't worked, it only ended in detention and grounding but that didn't stop Stiles' mischievous ADHD mind. No, Stiles was tired of being bored and listening to Scott talk about how nothing ever happened in this town. And he was tired of everyone looking at him as the kid who lost his mom. He wanted to make them forget that. Stiles was going to do something, something better than getting the two boys on the lacrosse team.

"Hey, Scott, I've got an idea…" Stiles said as he crawled through his friend's window, really he was surprised he had accomplished such a feat.

Scott jumped in surprise. "What the hell?" Scott ran to his door to close it. "How did you climb up my window? And what are you doing here? We are both grounded thanks to your last stupid idea. I'm not about to go along with another one."

Stiles just smiled, knowing his friend better than he knew himself. "Of course you are, that's what best friends do." Stiles shrugged and sat down on Scott's bed. "So, my dad fell asleep while going over some case files last night and I happened to get a good look at them. There have been a few houses right outside of town that have been vandalized. I think we should go check it out. Maybe it's some kind of…"

"No." Scott shook his head. "Pulling a prank is one thing but getting involved in police stuff, Stiles that's crazy!" He tried to keep his voice down so his mom wouldn't come in a yelled at them.

The honey-eyed boy shook his head. "Listen my dad has this rule about patterns. This is the third house that has been broken into and torn apart, that's a pattern. But here's the thing, it takes days or even weeks for it to be reported because the houses are all abandoned or for sale or something. It's like whoever is doing this is a professional squatter or something. I think that maybe if we go to the last house we could find some clue and then we could maybe…"

"What? Solve the case before the police? Who are you? Nancy Drew?" Scott laughed at himself.

Stiles just stared as his friend with a deadpan expression. "I thought we agreed I was the witty one and you were the cute one with the puppy eyes?" He shook his head. "Just come on, this could be fun. You're always complaining about how boring we are. You're the kid whose dad left and I'm the kid whose mom died. After this, we could be the kids who solved a crime. Doesn't that sound better?"

It finally clicked; Scott understood why Stiles was acting this way. "Alright, fine, I'll come with you but if we get into trouble I'm selling you out." Scott grabbed his jacket and followed his friend out the bedroom window.

It was a long bike ride out to the house that had been the last crime scene. It was dark out by the time they reached the house and Stiles was buzzing with excitement while Scott couldn't stop looking over his shoulder. "Stiles, maybe we should just leave. What if the people come back and…"

"Come back? Why would they come back to a crime scene? They obviously aren't stupid. They are picking the perfect houses and staying there the perfect amount of time to keep from being caught. Just calm down Scott, I know what I'm doing. I'm the one with the plan, remember?" Stiles took out his pocket knife and cut the crime scene tape over the door before picking the lock and walking in.

"What that's what scares me." Scott mumbles before following his friend into the house.

The house was surprisingly nice. It didn't seem abandoned but according to the files Stiles had read no one had lived there in five years. "This is pretty nice. Maybe we could make this our headquarters if everything works out for our detective skills." He gave his friend a smirk before looking around at the marks on the walls. "I'll go look around upstairs and you look around here." Stiles didn't wait for a response from his friend before bounding up the stairs to look for clues.

Scott threw his arms in the air. "Awesome. What the heck am I looking for?" He walked around the house, glancing at the beer bottles and all around mess. The house was too nice for these messy people.

There was a stumbling and flailing down the stairs as Stiles yelled. "Hey, hey, hey! Scott I found something!" Stiles managed to get down the stairs without completely hurting himself. "Look!" He held up a simple diamonded necklace. Scott just stared right back at him. "Come on Scott! Can't you tell this doesn't belong here?! I mean yeah, the place is nice but not this nice! And all of the really nice jewelry would have been taken with the last owners. You don't forget something like this, especially not a middle class family. It makes sense now, doesn't it?!"

Scott just stared blankly at his friend. "Stiles I'm the cute one with the puppy eyes, no the witty one, remember?" He laughed a little.

There was only an eye roll from his friend before he went on. "The jewelry store robberies in the towns next to us. There have been three of them, all in different places. No one knows who they are. They come in and out with perfect timing. They just disappear like that. My dad has been waiting for them to go for a store in Beacon Hills, but I guess we know why they haven't." He smiled looking up from the necklace only to see Scott was still giving him a clueless glaze of a stare. "The jewelry thieves are staying in these houses and leaving some of the jewelry for safe keeping. They'll probably come back once they've finish with this area, grab their stuff, and leave before anyone knows what's going on."

"So they are coming back." Scott raised an eyebrow.

Stiles took a minute to think. "There is only one other jewelry store close enough I can think of that…" His sentence was cut off by red and blue lights coming through the windows. "Crap, we have to get out of here!" He shoved the necklace into his pocket and took off towards the back door, Scott running after him. "Come on! We can hide out in the woods until…" Again he was cut off, this time by a large body as he ran right into it trying to run off the back porch. The two boys knocked heads as they fell to the ground. Stiles held his head as he looked up. "Hey Dad…"

"This is completely Stiles' fault." Scott rubbed his head from his jumbled spot on the ground.

Stiles pushed his friends leg off of him. "Thanks buddy."

Scott just smiled. "I told you if we got caught I was going to blame it all on you. I'm not going down for this. I'm already grounded."

A small laugh came from Stiles as the boys were hauled up by the backs of their shirts by sheriff whose face was turning redder by the second. "Yeah and what can your mom really take away from you? We're social rejects remember?"

"Will you two just shut up?" The sheriff's voice was stern and even. "I'm going to put the two of you in the back on my squad car and you're going to explain to me what the hell you're doing at a crime scene in the time it takes for us to get to the station. And then I'm calling Melissa and the two us will decide what to do with you two delinquents." He started shoving the boys towards his car. "I don't know what's gotten into you boys but this is _not_ okay."

Stiles squirmed in the back of the squad car as he tried to explain himself but he knew his dad wasn't going to be happy with them no matter the explanation. However, after he was done and they pulled into the parking lot, the sheriff had seemed to have calmed down dramatically. "Alright, fine, you thought you could be Nancy Drew." Scott sent a smile to his friend, _see even the sheriff thinks it's a funny joke_ and Stiles had to prevent himself from rolling his eyes as the sheriff turned around to face the boys. "But why? You told me what you did but you didn't tell me why."

The two looked at each other. Stiles couldn't tell his dad the truth, it would break his heart. Scott knew this, just by the look in Stiles' eyes. So, Scott took the lead. "Because we're almost teenagers and girls have a thing for the tough guys?" He gave the older man his puppy eyes and a side smile showing off his uneven jaw.

The sheriff shook his head. "Alright, come on you two partners in crime. We have to go call Melissa and figure out exactly how to punish the two of you properly."

Stiles sent his friend a silence "thank you" with his eyes and Scott just nodded as they followed the sheriff into the building. Even as they sat there taking in how they were going to be punished Stiles couldn't help but think of his Plan B, he really couldn't help it, I mean the necklace was still sitting heavy in his pocket…

So, I thought I'd just say that I really am trying to stick to as close to the show as possible, just adding some background which means that I'm not sure if I will continue this after I get to the boys' sophomore year and Scott is bitten. Unless you guys say different. In that case I might just add some stuff like scene I felt were left out of episodes but I don't want to stray from the actual plot for this story. And as always, if you have any story ideas for the boys (even if its from further in their past, I can do a flash back) let me know.

Thanks and have a nice day :)


	15. Chapter 15: Plan B

**Plan B**

Stiles sat on his bed running his fingers over the necklace. It was beautiful; something his father always dreamed of giving his mother but never had the money to do so. These jerks getting away with something so beautiful when his dad could never give a gift like this to his mom just didn't sit right with him. The more he thought about it, the more it bothered him, the more he obsessed about it.

That obsession is what led to him running up to Scott after school one day with the necklace in his hand. "Okay, are you ready for Plan B?" He asked excitedly.

Scott raised his eyebrows almost comically. "You mean getting caught by your dad wasn't Plan B?" He scoffed. "Please tell me you're talking about a different plan."

Stiles rolled his eyes and let his shoulders fall. "Come on Scott, where is your sense of adventure? I thought you wanted to be someone people noticed, huh? Because no one sees two kids who play by the rules and keep their heads down but they notice the two guys who took down the bad ass thieves. Come on…" His whined on in hopes of breaking his friend.

"Okay, fine! But this better not make my life any worse. My mom already has me cleaning out the gutters this weekend and that's not even the worst of it! She is making me bring her dinner every night for two weeks. She took away my skateboard. And…"

"Yeah, Scott, I don't care." Stiles waved his hand through the air dismissing his friend's woes. "Just meet me outside the station tonight at 6:45. They change shifts at 7 so that will be the best time to sneak into the file room. I want to get some more information about these jewelry thieves."

Jaw hanging, Scott shook his head. "We are going to break into the sheriff's station…ARE YOU INSANE?!" He couldn't hold back the shock.

After a heavy sigh and ignoring the few glances from other students Stiles put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Calm down Scott. It's not really breaking in. I mean, we will get into the station saying we're going to see my dad. We're only breaking into the file room. And it's not that big of a deal. I mean we aren't stealing personal information and we aren't taking the files out of the room. We are just reading about a criminal case in the safely of the file room. If my dad hadn't taken them back to work I could have read them at home."

The two hopped on their bikes as they headed home. "I can't believe I'm going to do this. My best friend is going to make me a criminal."

"Stop being so dramatic Scott."

Later that night the two met outside the station just like they had promised, Stiles jumping with excitement and Scott trudging with dread. "Come on, perk up or they will know something is wrong." Stiles clapped a hand on Scott's back. "We will be in and out before you know it."

"Hey Stiles, your dad is out on parole right now." The officer at the front desk greeted them.

Stiles gave a sweet smile, hoping his jitters would be dismissed for his ADHD and Scott's nervousness would go unnoticed. "I know, I just got bored at home. I thought we could wait in his office until he got back. I just kind of miss him sometimes, you know?"

The officer smiled sweetly, with a small amount of pity in her eyes, knowing Stiles came in more and more now that he only had one parent. "Yeah, that's okay. Go ahead Stiles."

"Hey, don't tell him, okay. I want to surprise him." He smiled big.

The lady officer laughed. "Yeah, okay Stiles, go ahead and surprise him. I'm sure he will love it." She let the two boys in, not a problem at all. Stiles was almost amazed at how easy it was.

He was even more amazed at how empty the place was. Everyone was out on patrol for the beginning of shift. This was working just as he had planned. _Dang I'm really good at this plan stuff._ He went to the file room, pulled out the key from his pocket, and slipped in with Scott.

"Dude, you have a key to this place?" Scott said in a harsh whisper as the boys turned the light on to the room.

Stiles shrugged. "I took the key off of one of the newer officers earlier today when I came by after school. Don't worry, I'll put it back before they notice. And it's not like it matters that much anyways. I heard my dad talking that they were trying to find room in the budget to change all the locks to card keys." Stiles started moving down the files. "Now help me."

The two searched through the files for a while before finally finding the ones they wanted. Stiles read the files thoroughly as Scott wondered around the room trying now to be bored when one file name stuck out catching his attention. "Hey Stiles, why is there a file on my dad?"

Before Stiles had to answer the door opened to reveal the sheriff. Stiles dropped the files and tried to hide them away. The smile and joke on the sheriff's face fell and was quickly replaced with surprise and then anger as he saw the boys. "What the hell…"

"Um, hi dad, surprise!" Stiles tried to laugh the tension away.

The sheriff wasn't laughing though; his face was only turning redder. "What are you two doing here?"

"We came to surprise you. You had such a tough day at work that I thought you would love a visit from your two favorite kids." Stiles tried to seem innocent, kicked the files under the shelf.

"Oh, you just wanted to surprise me. Then what the hell are you doing in the file room? Shouldn't you be in my office?" The sheriff was almost shaking with anger. He had caught his son in too many compromising situations lately.

Stiles laughed again. "Well that would be too obvious! But this," He gestured to the room. "This is a surprise!" For a kid who had never lied to his dad, Stiles was pretty proud of himself.

"Stiles stop lying to me."

Scott took a step forward. "I'm sorry sheriff. We just really got invested in the jewelry robbery case and we…"

"Oh you mean the thieves that we just caught an hour ago." The sheriff stared at the boys with his professional glare. He couldn't believe they hadn't backed off after being caught the last time. He didn't know how to further ground them.

Stiles' shoulders sank. "You caught them." His voice sounded so defeated. His Plan B was too late. "That's, um, that's awesome Dad, congratulations."

As much as the sheriff wanted to be angry he couldn't be with the look of pure disappointment and sadness on his son's face. "Stiles, why have you been so obsessed with this case? Did you really think that two kids in Jr. High could actually solve a criminal case? There's a reason we have cops. What did you think you were going to do? What would have happened if you actually caught them, huh?"

When Stiles just stood there staring at the floor Scott took it upon himself to jump in. "We just wanted a different reputation, sheriff. We aren't the best in lacrosse so we won't ever be jocks. I'm terrible in school while Stiles can't pay attention so we won't be nerds. All we have is that we are kids of single parents." He let that slide as easily and painlessly as he could. "So we thought we could be the bad asses that solved a crime. And we'd be putting away the bad guys, you know."

The sheriff ran a hand over his hair. "Stiles is this true?" The boy just nodded. "Alright, why don't you two go back to my office? Let me finish some of this paper work and I'll drive you two home."

Stiles' head shot up. "You aren't going to call Melissa and doom us to a live time of grounding?"

The older man looked at his son and shook his head. "No, this is will be our secret as long as you promise never to do something like this again." The boys agreed and left the room.

They sat in the hallway waiting for Stiles' dad in silence when Scott nudged his friend, trying to break the tension. "Alright so this Plan B failed, but what about a Plan B for pranking Jackson?"

That wonderful mischievous smile came across Stiles' face again. "I have a few ideas."

/So here there was the second part of Partners in Crime, and I'm sure I'll have more with this (pranks, detentions, etc). I have the next two chapters written but I'm not too sure what I'll be writing after them so that's why I'm not just posting them all at once but I'm sure I'll get impatient. Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for all of the reviews! They make my day and make me want to write more!

Thank you and have a great day! :)


	16. Chapter 16: Mother's Day

/So that amazing season 5 premiere encouraged me to post this sooner than I planned to. Also, I'd just like to say that I wrote this during the Father's Day weekend awhile ago. And I'd like to dedicate this to everyone who had to go through Father's Day or Mother's Day without a parent (no matter the reason, whether the parent is just absent, passed away, deployed, etc), and I'm sorry for your loss.

**Mother's Day**

The two boys ran into class trying really hard not to laugh. Only they knew why Jackson had left school after P.E. The two geniuses put dye into the shower head of Jackson's favorite stall, the only one with hot water that lasted longer than two seconds. He always bullied his way into that stall. He got what he deserved and Stiles' Plan B worked this time.

"Alright, calm down class." The teacher tried to take control of the class as the boys turned around in their seats and did their best to stop smiling. "As you all know, Mother's day is coming up. So for your next journal assignment…" The rest of her rambling didn't matter. The world enveloped into fog and some weird buzzing sound for Stiles.

He'd forgotten. _How could I have forgotten?_ Stiles felt like he was going to have another panic attack when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see Scott giving him a smile and the panic receded. "Hey, are you okay? Don't worry, they won't figure out we're the ones who did it." He winked and turned back to the front of the class where the teacher had moved on, no longer talking about the journal assignment thank god.

Even though he had stopped the panic Stiles still couldn't bring himself to be his normal happy, joking, and spastic self. He was just some sad twitchy kid today. And of course, Scott noticed. "Hey, are you okay? I thought you would be happier than your Plan B worked so well?" Scott finally asked as they rode their bikes away from the school.

Stiles shrugged his shoulders. "I um, I just didn't realize it was almost Mother's Day." He picked up his speed on the bike subconsciously. "It's my first Mother's Day without a mom." His voice was quiet but he kept up his speed.

Trying to keep up Scott felt like he had hit a wall; _how did I not think of that? _"I'm sorry." It was lame but he didn't know what to say.

"It's fine. I'm going to the station. Tara, uh Deputy Grahame, said she would help me with my homework. I'll see you later." Stiles went off in the opposite direction. He loved Scott but he didn't want to think about this anymore let alone talk about it. He just hoped the stupid holiday would pass fast and as painlessly as possible.

But as Scott finished his ride home, his mind flashed back to a time when he was going through something almost similar: his first Father's Day without a father…

_The two boys were walking through the mall as Melissa did some shopping somewhere else in the mall. "Hey dude, look at this!" Stiles was jumping around at everything as usual and Scott was laughing at him until something in a window caught his eye. He walked closer to the glass only to feel his heart sink. The sign in the window only made it worse._

_ It wasn't long before Stiles was jumping next to him. "Cool watch." He looked over at his friend to see the sad expression. "Hey, Scott, what's wrong?"_

_ "Read the sign." His voice was low, so quiet and vulnerable. _

_ Stiles looked at the red sale sign in the window. _Father's Day Sale!_ How could he have forgotten something like this? Of course Scott would be having a hard time. "Oh, that sucks man." He tried to find better words, feeling so lame. How could he make this better for his friend?_

_ Scott shook his head. "That watch." He tried not to cry in the middle of the mall. "I was going to get him that watch this year. I saved up all my money. I thought he would love it but now he's gone and Mom says he isn't coming back. At least he's not coming back any time soon, whatever that means." The young boy just stood there transfixed on the watch._

_ "I'm sorry Scott." Stiles racked his brain for something else to say but where words failed him a plan started to form in his mind making him smile, but he'd have to save it for later. "Hey, let's go down to the prank shop. Maybe we can find something to make you laugh." He dragged his friend away from the terrible reminder of a fatherless Father's Day._

_ Sunday morning Scott woke up to someone jumping on his bed. "Scott! Good morning!" Stiles smiled wide when Scott finally opened his eyes. "Come on, buddy, wake up already! I have a surprise for you. Just get up already."_

_ Scott pushed his friend off of him, resulting in Stiles hitting the floor hard and Scott laughing. "What are you doing here Stiles? It's Sunday and…" He stopped himself and his smile fell. It was Father's Day. Stiles had a dad to spend today with. "Shouldn't you be spending today with your dad, Stiles?" His voice was quiet. _

_ "Yeah, I will when he gets off work. I had him drop me off here on his way in though." Stiles smiled wide, showing off a tooth he had recently lost. "I'm wanted to stay with you so I could give you this." He shoved a small box at his friend. "Open it."_

_ Scott sighed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before opening the box. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the watch he was going to get his dad. "Stiles, what…why…how?"_

_ Stiles laughed. "I had my dad take me to the mall. I saved my money up for Father's Day this year too. I had to rearrange my plans a bit but I still have a great gift for him, he loved it this morning." He gave his proud smile. "And I wanted you to have this. You deserve it. You can give it to your dad if he ever comes back or you could give it to someone better, a good enough person to be like your dad. Or you could keep it yourself. No matter what you do with it, you get to save your money for something awesome, like hanging out with me."_

_ There was nothing Scott could say. It was perfect._

Scott sat at his desk in his bedroom trying to think. How could he do something like that for Stiles? He knew his best friend never really bought an actual present for his mom. Claudia always said the best present was spending time with her son, especially after her diagnosis. Stiles would buy his mom's favorite flowers and make her dinner, even if the only thing he could make as a kid was his grandma's pasta. A plan clicked in Scott's mind.

The next day after school Scott took a breath, ready to initiate his plan. "Hey Stiles, um, I was wondering if you could help me this weekend." He knew that Stiles would always help him with whatever he needed; it was just how their friendship worked.

Stiles pulled his bike off the rack. "Yeah, what do you need? If it's help with your history paper I'm not writing it for you. I already got bored with mine and went a little off topic." He laughed.

Scott laughed back. "No, uh, actually I need help making something for my mom." He bit his lip hoping this would work.

Stiles didn't seem to be catching on, seemingly forgotten that this weekend was Mother's Day all over again. He nodded as he started to pedal his bike. "Yeah, I can try. What are you trying to make her?"

"Uh, I thought I would make her some pasta for Mother's Day." He smiled.

Tires shrieked on the pavement. "What?!" Stiles tried to calm down but water was trying to push its way out of his eyes as he remembered what this weekend was. "Scott you know that's what I did with my mom! You know I always made her…" He stopped himself as he tried to even his breathing. "You can't just take my thing now that she's gone! I can't believe you!" He took off before Scott could react to his outburst, pedaling as fast as he could to the station.

Scott stood there straddling his bike, watching his friend pedal away. "I guess I should leave the plan making up to Stiles." He wiped away a tear and went home, trying to think of a way to fix his mistake. _How can I make this better?_

In pure rage Stiles stormed into the station. "Dad!" He saw his dad leaning over the front desk laughing at something. "Dad." He tried to keep the tears from falling in front of everyone. His dad turned to see his son, his smile falling from his face after seeing the state of Stiles.

"Stiles, son, what's wrong?" He put an arm around his son's shoulders as he led Stiles' back to his office. "It's okay, calm down." He placed the boy in a chair as he closed the door and closed the blinds. "What happened?"

Stiles finally let the tears fall. "Scott, he's trying to steal my thing! He's…he wants me to help make Melissa pasta for Mother's Day this weekend. How could he do that?! He knows that I did that for Mom! He knows I was upset about this weekend! Why would he…" He was cut off as he started crying harder and his dad pulled him into a hug.

"It's okay kid." The sheriff felt terrible, completely forgetting the fact that this weekend was a big first for them. "I'm sure he was just trying to help." He held his son, slightly rocking him back and forth. "It's going to be okay."

As the two started to pull apart when the crying died down, something caught on Stiles' shirt. The boy looked to his dad's arm to see a familiar watch. He wiped his eyes, a memory flashing before his eyes. "Dad, where did you get that watch?" It was a watch that his dad always wore, barely ever took off. But Stiles had never paid much attention to it. It just kind of appeared one day. But looking at it now, Stiles remembered buying it. He remembered giving it to someone else. He knew that watch and not just because it was something his father always wore.

The sheriff looked at his watch. He had been wearing it for so long he had almost forgotten about it. "Oh, um, Scott gave it to me a few years ago. He said it was a late Father's Day gift." He looked up at his son. "Stiles, are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost."

Stiles finally smiled. "Uh, yeah, I just, I think I just realized what Scott was trying to do." He mentally kicked himself. _How could I not see it sooner? Scott always sucked with plans; of course he would try to recycle one of my old ones._

Sunday morning rolled around and Scott still hadn't heard from his best friend. He felt like he had failed. He was sulking in his room when he heard the front door open, close, and a rustling going on in the kitchen. He jumped up, grabbing a baseball bat, and snuck downstairs half expecting to find an intruder. But when he jumped around the corner there was Stiles. "Stiles?"

Stiles turned, jumping slightly at the sight of his best friend. "What are you doing with a bat?"

The question went unanswered as Scott dropped the bat and ran over to his friend just barely restraining himself from hugging him. "Stiles I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay." Stiles smiled. "I get it. I forgot about Father's Day. Didn't anyone tell you there are some things you just can't recycle?" Stiles laughed before turning back around. Scott just stood there staring at his friend. "Well, are you going to stand there or are you going to help me make your mom some pasta or not? I have plans for later today so we have to finish this."

Scott jumped and moved to stand beside his friend. "Yeah, what do you need me to do?"

Later that day Stiles found himself standing in front of his mother's grave with his dad. He laid his mom's favorite flowers in front of the grave along with a small container of paste (a small spoonful from the pasta he made with Scott, which completely surprised Melissa). "Happy Mother's Day Mom, I really miss you." He cried through a smile but he still made it through the day.

/I hope you enjoyed, the next chapter will be more upbeat I promise. Thanks for reading, please review, and have a great day! :)


	17. Chapter 17: Pain and Sweat

**Pain and Sweat**

"No pain, no gain!" The middle aged man yelled with a laugh as the prepubescent boys ran another round of suicides down the lacrosse field.

Stiles felt like he was the one with asthma. "It's like he gets a sick pleasure from all of this." He tried to catch his breath as he lunged for the halfway mark next to his best friend. "Why is it always the sadistic teachers that become coaches?" He weaved slightly in his run, feeling as though he might pass out. "Why did we do this again?"

Finally finishing the last suicide Scott turned to his friend, trying his hardest to not act as drained as he felt, and took out his inhaler to take a puff. "We like lacrosse."

Stiles scoffed as he leaned on his friend but really they were leaning on each other. "No, you like lacrosse. I apparently just have no strong will. Or any other friends…maybe I should make some more." He took a drink from his water bottle.

Scott laughed. "Nah, you're too weird and it takes too long to train a new best friend. You're stuck with me and lacrosse. Come on we can do this. We made it through the tryouts and the pre-season practices; we can make it through this. It's just the warm up anyways."

The eyes on the Stiles turned into large saucers. "This is just the warm up? No, Scott, I'm going to throw up. I can't do this." He held onto his side where he felt a stitch from all of the running. "I'm not made for this. I'm made for stuff like chess and detective work."

"Police officers have to take a physical exam." Scott put his hand on Stiles shoulder. "Come on, let's go." The two walked back onto the field as Stiles groaned and the coach started barking orders.

With fear, Stiles stood in the goal on the coach's orders. He was trying to find everyone's strengths, apparently, and because Stiles wasn't the best at scoring maybe he could be a nice goalie. This was the coach's logic, which Stiles mocked terribly under his breath the whole way to the goal. "I'm going to die." He whispered to himself as the first teammate stood with the lacrosse ball. And so began the barrage of pelting lacrosse balls.

After everyone had taken at least five shots each and Stiles had only managed to stop four, the rest making it in or hitting him in some way (yes even with the padding), the coach finally took pity on Stiles and let him out of goal. "I guess we will find you a place on the field Stilinski." The coach patted him on the back as they went for a short water break.

"He hates me." Stiles whispered to Scott, glaring at the coach as they drank their water.

Taking another puff from his inhaler Scott shook his head. "He doesn't hate you Stiles, I'm sure we will all spend a little time in goal. He's just trying to find our strengths and weaknesses."

Now Stiles glared at Scott. "You can see the good in anyone can't you? Or is it the whole trusting everyone thing? I mean this coach could just get a sick pleasure from pain and not really care about lacrosse at all. I mean…"

"Stilinski!" The coach called the boy over before he could finish, causing him to groan before jogging off. "McCall!" Scott took one last quick drink before running after his friend. "Alright, for this next drill we have two on one. Stilinski and McCall I want you two to defend the goal. Try to make it so that kid doesn't have to show his goalie skills." He pointed to the Hawaiian standing in goal.

The boys nodded as the rest of the team lined up. The coach blew the whistle and a seventh grader bulled his way down the field, first taking out Stiles (who landed painfully on his side) and then wacked Scott (who felt like he flew ten feet) out of the way before throwing for a goal, which the goalie managed to catch. "Stilinski! McCall! Remember what we went over at the beginning of practice! Remember how to block! Come on! Again, let's go!"

The second guy to run is another sixth grader like them. He runs in, Stiles hits him in the side, rolling with the hit, while Scott pops the kid's stick with his. Their first success…and one of the very few, but it gave them a little bit of confidence.

However, that confidence doesn't last long as the next player is an eighth grader who lowers slightly as Stiles runs to make the same move he'd done to the sixth grader, the eighth grader hits Stiles low and lifts, causing Stiles to go into the air and actually do a flip before landing hard on his back knocking the breath out of him. Scott, watching in horror, dares to make a move to stop the guy but ends up on his back as well right next to Stiles. "If we make it out of this, I'm going to kill you." Stiles manages to get out once his breaths finds him.

Scott tries to laugh and get his breath back at the same time. "I don't think you can do anything worse than that."

"Oh I'll take steroids, just like that kid, if I have to. I will make it a painful death Scott. And then I will comfort your mother at your funeral and give a loving speech and use your death as an excuse for why I can't play lacrosse anymore." He rolled over and the two boys helped each other get up.

Again and again the boys were hit, knocked over, thrown, tripped, and pushed over as 90% of the team made it passed them. The coach let this go on for much too long before finally rotating. "I guess you will have to be the team spirit from the bench Stilinski." When it was Stiles' turn to run at the two new kids (eighth graders) defending the goal he was crushed between the two adding bruises to the layer of bruises he already felt. Scott's turn was a little better. He managed to make it passed one of the players only to be checked by the other.

By the end the two boys were completely exhausted and extremely sore. But of course the coach ended the practice with suicides. And after changing, dealing with all of the locker room talk (some especially uncreative remarks from Jackson), the boys trudged outside only to groan at the realization that they had to ride their bikes home.

"Scott, do you want to know how I'm going to get away with your murder or maybe hear your eulogy?" Stiles slowly pushed the pedals up the hill, slightly afraid he wasn't pushing fast enough.

"I think we learned today, Stiles, that you don't have it in you." Scott stood up on his bike for more leverage to make it up the hill.

For two seconds, Stiles let himself glare at his friend. "Getting away with murder only takes brains Scott, not brans." This pause in pedaling to glare allowed for his fear to come to life and his bike fell over only causing Scott to laugh. "Yeah, go ahead and laugh at your friend who almost died, even though I have practically carried you to the ER before!" Stiles mumbled as he pushed his bike off of himself. And stood up, wincing at his sore muscles.

Scott stopped his bike by his friend. "Stop being dramatic Stiles. The first few practices are always the worse but it will get better. And the coach obviously likes us." This caused Stiles to raise his eyebrows. "Well at least he notices us. I mean, most teachers don't even know our names. And apparently he's good friends with the high school coach, who I'm sure is much more rational."

"Yeah, alright, let's go."

And the two sore boys rode off into the night.

/I'm so sorry this took so long to update! I lost my internet for a week. I promise I'll update super soon again to make up for it. I hope you enjoyed this. I thought a little fluff was needed after the last chapter. As always, thanks for ready, please review, and have a great day! :)


	18. Chapter 18: Memories

**Memories**

With a frustrated groan Scott threw his pencil across the room. "I don't understand any of this! When did math get so hard?" He let his face fall into his textbook.

Stiles threw his finished homework and notes at his friend. "It's not the math Scott, it's always sucked. But there are all new sorts of distractions now. Like Lydia. Did you see that skirt she was wearing today? Or how her hair tossed to the side when she raised her hand…or how easily she solved the question on the board…"

Scott grabbed Stiles' pencil and threw it at his face. "Will you stop? You sound like a love sick puppy, it's disgusting. God, I hope I never sound like that." He sighed and looked at Stiles' notes. "Okay, if you can take notes this amazing while being distracted by Princess Lydia, then how do I end up with this chicken scratch with nothing to distract me?" He looked at his best friend's organized and clear notes with amazement.

A small chuckle left Stiles. "Uh, actually Lydia is to blame for that one. I sit close enough to her in math to copy her notes. At first I just looked at her handwriting because I mean, it's beautiful. But then I realized she took better notes than the teacher."

"Lydia? Lydia Martin? She's the popular one, the ditz. There's no way these are from her notes." Scott looked at the notes again with suspicion.

Again Stiles laughed. "Everyone thinks that. She sure does have everyone fooled. But one day everyone will see how smart she is. I bet she will be some kind of scientist or something and cure cancer or make some big life discovery and save us all. One day you'll see…"

"Or we could steal her notes and save ourselves." Scott smiled and started copying the notes and the homework. "Why are you still obsessed with her anyways? I don't think she has talked to you since that day in third grade."

Stiles put a hand to his chest faking pain. "Hey now, I've talked to her! Last week she muttered, 'idiot' to me in history. It was magical." He ignored the laugh from Scott. "I have a plan Scott. She's not only going to know my name but she will love me one day, I swear to it." He sighed and rolled over on his back on Scott's floor from where he was doing his homework. "I'm almost as smart as she is, you know. If I could just not get so bored then maybe I could be at her level. But seriously, who can find half that crap interesting?" He shook his head.

"And yet she still goes for the idiot jocks, the fellow popular kids." Scott didn't even look up from his work of copying.

Again Stiles sighed. "She will grow out of it. I know it. I just have this feeling." He sat up. "Until then I'll be as smart and annoying as I possibly can. You can't avoid smart, annoying Stiles forever." He looked over at the stack of books on the bed by Scott. "You still haven't read for English or History?" In response there was only a frustrated groan. "Seriously, Scott, what are you doing? How do you not finish any of this? I've been done for a week, even with those terrible lacrosse practices."

Scott shrugged. "I don't know. It's just hard and I give up. Then you come over and I can talk you into playing Call of Duty or playing Lacrosse or something and the next thing I know my mom or your dad is coming home after a long shift yelling at us for being up so late. I can't do homework after that obviously so I just give up."

"You're kidding me. You can't use me as an excuse, just get it done." Stiles stood up and walked over to Scott's collection of video games. "How about this, for every assignment you finish you can play until you die or we finish a level? It will be like taking a bunch of mini breaks and will keep you motivated. Plus I'll be here to help if it gets too hard."

Looking up from the math work Scott nodded. "You read that in some psychology journal didn't you?" He narrowed his eyes at his friend.

Stiles smiled. "I told you, I get bored." He picked out a game. "Now hurry up and finish math so we can play before you start your History homework. Until then, let's see how far I can survive on my own." He put the game in and sat down on the beanbag chair.

"You're going to play while I'm working? That's distracting!"

"No, it's motivation." Stiles winked back at Scott before pressing start and the game came to life.

The two worked through Stiles' plan perfectly. Scott worked through his homework, Stiles helping occasionally, and the two of them made it through a game but when all of the homework was finally finished and they were just about to the end of a game Stiles pressed pause. "Whoa, dude, what are you doing? We're almost there?" Scott jerked at the sudden stop in action and whipped his head around to face his friend.

A sadness had taken over Stiles' face. "Do you know what next week is?"

It was a question Scott had been waiting for, so he nodded. "Yeah, I know buddy." He'd been marking his calendar so he would be ready for this. Knowing what the day was didn't mean he knew what he was going to do to make it better, though. "Are you okay?"

All Stiles could do was shrug. There was a silence and then he laughed. "A year, man, it will be a year since she's died. How am I going to deal with that? I can't believe it. I mean, some days it still feels like she going to walk through the door with some silly story about how she got held up at the grocery store when we all knew she probably just lost her way for a few minutes. Then there are other days when it feels like she's been gone for ages and memories are slipping away from me. How can I forget my own mom? How can I forget her how her laugh sounded? And it's only been a year? What's going to happen in two years, five, or ten years? What else am I going to forget? Are there going to be more days where I catch myself waiting for her return or days where I'm so numb she just slips my mind?"

The confession wasn't something Scott was ready for. And the sudden press of play on their game was something he definitely wasn't ready for. He had to quickly adjust to keep from dying on the game. "I don't know, Stiles, I'm sorry. I wish…" He didn't know what to say and the game was so distracting. It was like Stiles had planned it this way. So Scott took the situation into his own hands and let himself die in the game, causing it to stop and Stiles to turn to him. "It's going to be okay."

Stiles scoffed. "How can you keep saying that? You said that before and my mom died."

The comment hit Scott like a knife to the gut. "Stiles, it's going to be okay because you still have memories. Even if they aren't completely clear you will always have memories. And you have your dad or my mom. They can show you pictures and videos. That's what they're there for. We're a family, remember? And it's going to be okay because you still have me. You'll always have me." Scott smiled and started the game again. "Remember that time your mom gave you a haircut?"

Letting the mood slip into something light and turning back to the game Stiles let out a genuine laugh at the memory Scott was bringing forward. "Yeah, I had to shave my head into a buzz cut just to fix it, it was so bad. Dad never let her live that one down. What about the time…" The boys continued the night with memories until Melissa came home and tried to yell at them for staying up too late on a school night playing video games but somehow found herself staying up with them laughing at her own memories

/So I promised I would update again really soon so here it is! I hope you enjoy! Oh and let me know if you have any ideas for future stories in this, I've have a few people give some and I loved it! I'm a few chapters ahead right now but I'll write them as soon as I can if you have something you want. Thanks for reading, please review, and have a great day! :)


	19. Chapter 19: Ups and Downs

**Ups and Downs**

Sometimes friendships work so well because they're even, they work in perfect sync with each other. But sometimes they work because they can find equilibrium even when they're completely out of sync, when they're in completely opposite orbits. Finding a common ground when one is up and the other is down is the sign of a true friendship. And Stiles and Scott are two of the truest friends the world could ever have created.

Scott was on cloud nine. A simple red 'A' marked across his paper would have been enough to make his day but that wasn't the only sunshine in his sky on this marvelous Friday afternoon. Little Miss Caroline Madel agreed to go get ice cream after the lacrosse game with Scott tonight. Yes, this sixth grader had a date. It was closing in on the end of the school year, summer was in sight, and this was looking to be the best summer of Scott's life. Or so he thought.

Walking down the hallway on the opposite end of the school was Stiles, trying his hardest not to bash his head into the closest wall. Today had to be the worst Friday on record. He'd gotten a lunch detention for being unable to sit still in his second class and an after school detention in his fourth class because the teacher didn't appreciate his "comments" on the teacher's lecture. Not to mention the 'D' he got on his history paper because it apparently wasn't relevant enough, but the history of removing limbs in battle is completely related to Lincoln (they both were highly involved in the Civil War). Then there was the real dark mark of his weekend being his mom's birthday. Last year her birthday had just gone unnoticed. It was too close after the funeral, too close to all of the grief to focus on. But now it was a big red mark of the calendar. It was just the beginning of a sure to be terrible summer for Stiles.

It could have been almost comical the way the two friends ran into each other in the hallway just outside the locker room. Scott had been too lost in thought of his date to notice his best friend and Stiles had seen too busy sulking to see his. "Hey Stiles!" Scott smiled as he rubbed his forehead, practically not feeling the pain.

On the other hand, Stiles rubbed his bumped forehead as if he'd been hit on purpose just to make this day worse. He looked up at Scott and shrugged. "Yeah, hey." He shuffled into the locker room, his friend following after him.

"So, guess who got an A on the English paper you helped me with last week!" Scott beamed as they went to sit on the benches as they waited for the coach's speech about tonight's game. The coach always gave some speech to the boys after school before they went home. It was the pre-pre-game speech as he liked to call it. "Stiles?"

Stiles looked over at his friend. He didn't want to be a brat. He knew Scott wasn't trying to brag. Stiles waving his last math test in Scott's face two weeks ago had been bragging. This wasn't bragging. It wasn't Scott's fault that Stiles was having a crap day. So he tried to smile. "That's awesome, bro."

The smile, however, wasn't convincing. Scott could tell his friend didn't mean it. "Hey, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing it's just been a long day and I'm tired." Stiles rubbed his face with his hand. "What about you?" Stiles could tell Scott wasn't done talking about his great day. Scott was probably the easiest person to read, even if you weren't his best friend. And Stiles didn't want to bring Scott down. Just because he was having the worse day didn't mean Scott had to have a crap day.

Scott's smile grew even wider. "I asked out Caroline." He nudged Stiles with his shoulder. "And she said yes! She's going to get ice cream with me after the game tonight!" Scott threw a fist into the air unable to control his happiness.

Next to Scott's happiness, Stiles' heart sank. He was hoping to hang out with Scott after the game. It was the only thing getting him through the day. There was no one else he could hang out with. Sure he was friends with other guys on the team or in their class but not the type of friends that hung out outside of school or games and definitely not the type of friends that he called when he needed a pick me up. "Oh that's awesome dude." Stiles tried to sound excited for Scott's first date but it was just so hard.

Scott cocked his head to the side, looking slightly like a puppy. "Stiles are you sure you're okay? You've seemed off all week. Then today was just bad. I mean, you weren't even at lunch."

Resigned to bringing the mood down Stiles sighed and went to explain the day he'd had to his best friend when the locker room door opened and the coach came in yelling about sweet victory soon to come tonight. By the time the speech was over Stiles had given up on trying to explain everything and slipped out as the team ended their meeting with chanting to head to his detention. Scott looked around for his friend, worry settling in, but saw the time and remembered he had to go see his mom before heading home to prepare for the game so he left.

Later that night Scott sat on the bench waiting for Stiles to arrive to the game so they could talk before they had to start warm-ups. But Stiles arrived mere milliseconds before the coach blew his whistle for everyone to get on the field for warm-ups. That's when Scott noticed how tired Stiles looked and how sad and annoyed his features were. At least they were bench warmers, though, which gave Scott the whole game to try to talk to his best friend. Right?

No. The one and a million chance happened within the first five minutes of the game. Scott was sitting next to Stiles, nudging the boy with his elbow trying to get him to talk when one of their teammates was hit hard. The poor kid was sent off the field on a stretcher. And Scott's dreams came true; he was called over by the coach to play. _Seriously, how could this week get any better?_

He only got to play until halftime and he didn't make any points, but he actually got to play! Scott got to play! When he came back to the bench he was actually sweating, his mom would actually have to wash his jersey after this game, and he was wheezing a little bit. He smiled wide when he saw Stiles standing up with his water bottle and inhaler. "Thanks buddy!" Scott took a puff on his inhaler and then took a drink of water. "How did I do?"

Stiles smiled, even if it was a fake smile. "You did good dude. I mean, you didn't break anything. I think you only fell twice and one of those times you were tackled. I would call it a success for your first time on the field in a game. Nicely done." He held his hand up for a high five.

Scott smacked his friend's hand. "Thanks! I can't believe coach actually let me play for half the game! Maybe you will get to play next!" The two sat back on the bench.

Stiles huffed skeptically. "There are three other sixth graders he could play over me. I won't hold my breath. Plus," Stiles looked up at the crowd, seeing the empty seat next to Melissa (who waved excitedly at him). "What's the point in playing if my dad isn't here to see it?" He hadn't meant to sound depressing but he'd just spent half of an entire game without his fellow bench warmer and one of the other kids taunting him the whole time.

"Awe come on Stiles, don't be so negative!" Just as Scott was about to begin some optimistic speech the coach called out, 'Stilinski'. "See! He's going to put you in!" He smiled wide and patted Stiles on the back.

It would be a lie if Stiles said a little bit of hope sparked in his chest at the thought of getting the chance to play. "Whatever Scott." Stiles went over to the coach, trying not to smile too much at the possibility of playing in an actual game. _What if I actually get to play for the whole second half?_ "You wanted me coach?"

The coach didn't even look at him. "Yeah, go refill the water." He nudged his head towards the giant water cooler. "The water boy didn't come tonight, so you're on water boy duty. He usually refills it at halftime. Greenburg! Greenburg get your butt over here, you're going in after halftime!" And with that Stiles felt his heart sink and his hope shatter. There was nothing good about this week and there wouldn't be anything good about this week. Life just sucked to be Stiles.

"Yeah, I'll just go get the water." Stiles grumbled as he tried to find a good grip on the water cooler and stalked off away from the field. "Can this day get any worse?"

In all honesty Stiles should have known better than to say something like that. I mean, everyone who says that just curses themselves. It's Rules #3 in any movie. Because as soon as the words slip from your mouth you doom yourself to making it worse and Stiles did NOT need it to become any worse than it already was. But, with true Stiles Stilinski luck, he managed to make it even worse. As he hobbled back to the field with the water cooler weighed down with water, he clumsily slipped. The water went all over him as he fell into the rough and dirty grass. He would have to actually wash his jersey after this game, but not for the same reason Scott had to. And of course as he made the fall his ankle took a weird angle. He cursed and tried to stand back up, putting a little bit of weight on his ankle, wincing at the pain, before grabbing the cooler and going back to fill it up for a second time.

When Stiles finally made it back to the bench the coach was pissed and a few players were whining about not having water so no one noticed the mud or his new limp. Well, Scott noticed, but he only got a grumbled response when he asked what happened. "I don't want to talk about it." Stiles sat back down and his leg went to take his normal movement of jumping up and down but quickly stopped feeling the pain in his ankle. "Shit."

"You should have my mom look at that." Scott looked down at Stiles' ankle. "I can't believe I played tonight and you're the one who got hurt." He laughed but stopped when he saw the look on Stiles' face. It was the angry look he used when he didn't want to cry but really wanted to. "Stiles, are you okay? Man, I'm sorry you didn't get to play."

Stiles let out a frustrated snort. "I don't care that I didn't get to play Scott. I just want this game to be over so…" He stopped himself. He was going to say, 'so we can go play some video games and just forget this day ever happened' but then he remembered Scott wasn't hanging out with him after the game. "I just want this game to be over." He let his face fall into his hands.

The rest of the game the two sat in silence. Scott tried to start a conversation a few times at first but Stiles wasn't in the mood to talk, which was just so unlike him. It was really bothering Scott. He had completely forgotten about his date after the game by the time the finally whistle was blown. He was running after Stiles towards the locker room when someone yelled his name and grabbed his shoulder.

The boy turned around to see the tall brunette with curly hair. "Hey, you did amazing out there Scott! Are we still going to get ice cream? Is your mom driving us?" Caroline smiled sweetly.

Scott felt conflicted. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to help Stiles, but Caroline was a girl…a really, really cute girl…a really, really cute girl who was talking to him and willing to go out with him! But Stiles... "Hey, Caroline, um, do you mind if Stiles comes with us?" God he hoped he could make this compromise. He really wanted to have his cake and eat it too.

The girl's smile didn't fade. "No, that's fine. Maybe I'll see if Jaye can come?"

"Yeah! That'd be great! I'll go talk to Stiles!" He smiled wide, glad that maybe this one plan of his would work.

After a long, borderline fight, discussion Scott finally convinced Stiles to go out. The girls were full of giggles and honestly so was Scott. His face was a permanent red when the girls brought up how well Scott had played (of course they were over exaggerating but hey they were middle school girls trying to flirt). Then there was Stiles who sat in the corner of the booth stabbing his ice cream with his spoon and twitching even more than usual because he couldn't bounce his leg.

"Yeah, it was a good game. Right Stiles?" Scott tried to include Stiles in the conversation and get his friend to have some fun. But Stiles didn't hear him, seemingly distracted by stabbing his ice cream almost violently now. "Stiles?" Scott nudged his friend, making Stiles jump a little and give him a confused look. "It was a good game?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, sure, it was a great game. I wonder if coach will let me play water boy again next weekend." There was so much sarcasm dripping on his words. "Maybe I won't fumble the water next time." He looked up to see the girls looking around awkwardly and Scott giving him a concerned look. _Great, I'm ruining this for Scott_. "Look, I'm tired. I'm just going to go home." He stood up but Scott grabbed his arm. "I'm fine Scott."

"Stiles…"

"No, it's fine. Stay here. You guys have fun, someone deserves to. I'll see you later Scott." Stiles didn't give his friend a chance to argue, he just walked as fast as his hurt ankle would carry him out of the ice cream shop. Then he limped his way home. He didn't bother trying to find Melissa who said she would wait in the parking lot for the kids. He just wanted to wallow in his misery for a while.

It was a long walk home and by the time he got there his dad had returned from work. _Awesome, now I'll have to put up with questions from Dad. Maybe he won't bring up the game…_ Stiles took a deep breath before opening the door and limping through (his limp much worse after walking so far on his hurt ankle). "Hey dad." He put on his best smile when he found his dad in the kitchen.

The sheriff smiled back at his son, happy that he hadn't missed a chance to say goodnight and ask about the game. It seemed important, especially considering what tomorrow was. "Hey kiddo, how was the game?" He took in his son's appearance, the mud on his jersey and the way he leaned to one side as if he'd hurt himself. His heart sank at the thought that he'd missed his son play but beamed with pride at the fact that Stiles had finally made it off the bench. "Look at you! Looks like you finally got some time on the field." He smiled at Stiles.

Stiles let his smile fall as he ran a hand over the back of his neck and into his buzz cut hair. "Uh, actually, no I didn't get to play. The water boy…" Stiles stopped, he couldn't repeat it. He didn't want to tell his father about how much of a failure he was. "I don't want to talk about it dad. I just want to take a shower, ice my ankle, and go to bed before anything else can happen."

His dad crossed the room and patted the boy on the shoulder. "Alright son, I won't pry. Go upstairs and take a bath. I'll get an ice pack and some hot chocolate ready for you." He might not be as cuddly as his wife was but Stilinski still knew his son.

Before the night was over, after icing his ankle for a while and drinking almost all of his hot chocolate there was a soft knock on the door. The sheriff answered it, praying it wasn't someone from work (he just couldn't leave his son right now) and found Scott standing on the doorstep in a dirty jersey and a concerned look on his face. "Hey, is Stiles still up? I really need to talk to him."

The older man smiled. "Yeah, come on in Scott. He's in the living room watching TV drinking hot chocolate. I'll go make some more." He patted the boy on the back as he walked by before heading to the kitchen hoping Scott could make it better when he obviously couldn't.

Scott peered around the corner to see his friend huddled on the couch with an ice pack on his ankle, hot chocolate in his hands, and some sci-fi show on the TV. "Hey, Stiles." Scott hesitantly walked into the room, afraid of how Stiles would react to seeing him there. "Um, the girls wanted me to say hi and sorry that you had to leave. But they had a good time." He smiled weakly feeling as though Stiles knew he was lying (the girls were pissed at Stiles behavior and even madder that he had just left). "Stiles, what's wrong?" He sat down on the couch, careful not to jar the hurt ankle.

"Nothing Scott."

"Stiles."

"That's my name, don't wear it out."

Scott raised an eyebrow. "Stiles cut the crap."

Finally Stiles gave in with the sigh. "I've had a shit day. I couldn't sleep last night. I had to air up the tires on my bike before going to school today almost making myself late. I just couldn't sit still in one of my classes so the jerk teacher gave me a detention for lunch. And because I couldn't relax and move around during lunch I was high strung later in the day and I wound up with another detention for after school. I got a bad grade on my history paper when it's really not my fault. It was a good paper I just couldn't write about that boring crap. And then there was the game! I sat on the bench by myself to be mocked by the older players. The coach gets my hopes up calling out my name only to send me to get water and like an idiot I trip and hurt myself and spill all of the water. And to make it all worse my mom's birthday…" He stopped, feeling tears threatening to take over.

Scott sighed, how could his friend have been in so much pain and he not know? "Stiles, why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have tried to make it better or at least played some video games with you to distract you."

"You were in such a good mood. Everything was going right for you. I tried so hard to be happy this week because you were happy. You deserve to be happy Scott. I shouldn't bring you down. And it's like lately our lives have been so full of my crap…"

Scott cut Stiles off before he could continue. "Yeah, and what's your point? That's what best friends are for. We balance each other out. And right now it might just be your time to have all the crap but I'm here to help you through it because eventually it's going to be my crap that controls our lives." He smiled and patted Stiles leg just above the ankle so he wouldn't hurt him. "And Stiles, you deserve to be happy too."

Stiles, for the first time that week, smiled a real smile. And the two drank hot chocolate with the sheriff. They sat there and drank hot chocolate and talk late into the night, straight into Saturday morning, right into Claudia's birthday. And Stiles, surprisingly, didn't have the worse Saturday ever because Scott helped even the bad out.

/And that's the longest chapter I've written (hope that's okay with you guys)...it probably wasn't the best but one I just kinda went with if that makes sense so I hope it was okay. I have only two more story ideas for the boys in jr. high unless anyone has something they want to see done so speak now (although you don't have to forever hold your peace because I'm cool with flashbacks but whatever). So yeah, let me know what you guys think pretty please, I love hearing from you! And thank you so much for reading! Have a great day :)


	20. Chapter 20: Birthday Dare

**Birthday Dare**

Many children play the game of truth or dare. However, Scott and Stiles were never like most children. No, these two grew tired of that game fast seeing has they knew everything there was to know about each other so asking for a truth was pretty much worthless and just boring. So these two slightly mischievous boys played dare or dare: constantly daring each other to do something stupid or humiliating in order to dull their boredom.

It was the beginning of summer (about a month in) and they'd already grown bored of all their free time. They had swam, rode bikes around town, had water balloon fights, played lacrosse for countless hours, finished every video game they owned, made plenty of questionable experiments in the kitchen, asked out a handful of girls, been turned down by a handful of girls, and even tried to get into the file room at the sheriff's station to look at the cold case files to see if they could solve some unsolved case (only to be discovered by a very angry sheriff who practically drop kicked them out the door). All of that and they were, understandably, two very bored pre-teen boys.

So they sat on their backs lying in Scott's living room when Stiles smiled. "Dare or dare."

Scott lifted his head up enough to send a smile at his friend. "Dare." His voice came out challenging, letting his friend know he was up for anything (really it was the boredom talking).

Trying to think of something good Stiles nodded. "I dare you to throw a water balloon at the first deputy, or sheriff, we see coming of the station." He smiled an evil smile. He knew that Scott hated doing stuff like that, which of course made it more fun to dare.

If there had been anything else in the world to distract Stiles with Scott would have talked his way out of this game but there was literally nothing in this town to do. So he groaned as he sat up. "Fine, I'll accept your dare and raise you one." He smiled back at his friend who sat up looking back at him defiantly. Scott usually couldn't come up with a better dare than Stiles. "I dare you to throw a water balloon inside the sheriff's station."

It was a good dare. Definitely one of the most risky ones Scott had ever come up with. Stiles couldn't just say no. There were rules after all and Stiles was never a quitter. "Not a problem Scotty, mere child's play. Let's go get the balloons." They both smiled and raced off to get the balloons.

The two sat waiting in the bushes while Scott held his balloon ready (the balloon resting in his lacrosse stick because they both had to admit that he had a better chance of hitting someone this way rather than throwing it). "Okay, I can do this." Scott said, more to himself because he was beginning to chicken out. He jumped up and down a little, getting in a better position with his lacrosse stick to throw when a deputy (apparently the new one) decided to walk out of the building. Scott's heart started to beat a mile a minute. He could hear Stiles whispering angrily at him which meant he didn't have much time. So, without too much thought, Scott launched the water balloon into the deputy's direction and then turned around quickly to hunch down (hitting Stiles in the process as they both just fell to the ground ungraciously).

"WHAT THE HELL?!" A loud, booming voice cut through the air letting them know Scott had hit his target and the two had to cover their mouths to keep from getting caught laughing.

"Alright, my dear friend, it's your turn." Scott smiled.

Stiles took a water balloon from their bag. "Not a problem, _friend_. You only said I had to throw this in the station. You never picked a target. Like I said, this is child's play." He stood up arrogantly and went to enter the station with the water balloon when he heard Scott laughing. "What?"

"You're really just going to walk in there after I hit one of their officers with a water balloon? If they see that thing, they're going to think you did it. And I would love to see the punishment your dad comes up with for something like that. I mean, it would be worth spending the summer alone." Scott smiled smugly. It was the first time he caught onto something before Stiles.

Lowering the water balloon and trying to hide it under his shirt Stiles shrugged. "I know. That's why I wasn't planning on getting caught. I'm the smart one, remember Scott?" He started to walk away but stopped. "Oh, and Scott, I dare you to hit Jackson with the water balloon from a distance of three feet." He gave a tight smile before returning to his walk to the station.

Scott could feel his stomach drop. He hoped Stiles backed out of this dare so he didn't have to face Jackson. Sure, Stiles wouldn't have a problem hitting Jackson with a water balloon but Scott was horrified to do something like that. Now he just needed to think of a better dare…his eyes wandered to the large calendar that hung behind the main desk of the sheriff's station as he followed Stiles inside. A small smile came over his face, ignoring Stiles who made a dash for the bathroom.

After busting the water balloon in the bathroom, just barely escaping notice from the officer who was in one of the stalls, Stiles grabbed Scott by the arm and the two ran out of the building. They didn't stop running until they got to their bikes. Even then they hopped onto the bikes and took off towards the park where Jackson would most likely be practicing lacrosse like he always is.

As they pedaled closer to the park Scott looked over at Stiles. "Do you know what next Tuesday is?" He tried to keep his voice casual as he came up with his next dare. Stiles barely looked over at him, just shrugging his shoulders. "Well, it just so happens to be my next dare."

"Dude, that's not even fair! This game is supposed to keep us entertained for today and I can't dare you back until I've finished my dare!" Stiles looked over at Scott who just copied Stiles' earlier shoulder shrug. "Okay, fine, what is it? It better be a good one McCall." He used Scott's last name to make a point.

Scott smiled as they came to their destination at the park. "I dare you to actually have a birthday this year. You ditched on it last year and we all went along with it because of, well, everything. But this year I dare you to not only acknowledge your birthday but to have a cake with candles and everything."

Stiles wanted to hit his friend, yell at him for using a game like this but before he could manage to get any words out Scott was running over to Jackson with a water balloon in his hand. The next few moments all happened so suddenly. Scott pulled the water balloon from behind his back once he got Jackson's attention and chucked it at his face while the bully started with his usually comments. Then the boy took off before Jackson could react. And the two best friends took off on their bikes while Jackson yelled his promise of revenge under water soaked hair.

There was silence between the two as they rode their bikes around town. Scott didn't want to be the one to break the silence but he also wanted to know if Stiles had accepted his dare. "So, are you going to chicken out or live up to the dare?"

Stiles didn't look at Scott before making a harsh turn, which caused Scott to have to turn around and catch up with his friend. "I can't believe you would break the rules like that."

"Well according to you when you dared me to bring my mom the worst dinner ever when she was at work, there are no rules to this except you either chicken out or you live up to the dare. So, are you going to go through with it?"

With a sigh Stiles came to a stop. "I can't! I don't have friends Scott, we're outsiders. If I have a party no one will come. Do we really need to relive that sad story? Because I'd rather not." Stiles scratched at his skin even though there was no real itch. "Plus my birthday isn't until Tuesday so can't we just put that on the back burner and move on with the game?" He wanted out of this situation. He didn't want to think about his birthday. He just wanted to ignore it until it went away.

"We aren't ignoring this, Stiles." Scott said as if reading Stiles' mind. "I know you wouldn't have a big party even if everything was perfect in our lives. But you should have something. Mom and I can come over and we'll bake you a cake. And you can blow out the candles and then we will all watch as you open presents. Then your dad will tell the story about when you were born just like him and your…" Scott stopped himself before he brought up Claudia. "Stiles I dared you."

Stiles bit his lip, trying not to cry. "Why?! Why did you dare me to do this? You could have said anything! You could have dared me to do anything! Anything! Hell, dare me to jump off a bridge! Don't make me do this." Stiles hated to beg during this game.

"It's the only way you _will_ do this. And Stiles, why is this so terrible for you? You used to love your birthday! You had a countdown going on starting the day we got out of school. You used to say it should be a national holiday. Please…just talk to me." Scott felt like he was begging. He could remember the conversation he overheard between his mom and the sheriff. They were so concerned for Stiles, wondered why the boy wouldn't talk more about everything. The school counselor apparently had told the sheriff that Stiles' coping mechanisms of sarcasm and ignoring weren't healthy. The sheriff almost started crying when Melissa asked if Stiles brought up doing something for his birthday. The two decided if Stiles didn't change soon they would have to do something…more drastic.

Stiles shook his head. "Because Scott." He got off his bike, throwing it to the side as he fell into the grass by the side of the road. "I don't want to have a birthday. I can't have a birthday; not without her." He wasn't crying even if he felt like he should be. No, Stiles was done crying. "I'm tired of everyone trying to push this stuff on me. I get it. You want me to go back to normal. But news flash, nothing will ever be normal for me, not ever again. So please just let me ignore my birthday."

Some harsh truth, some tough love, was needed. Claudia used to say that best friends had the unfortunate job of giving the truth, the reality check. Scott knelt down next to his friend. "But you're going to have birthdays without her, Stiles, that's just how life works. You're going to get older. You're going to keep living without her. Life goes on. She would want you to live normal, at least as normal as you possibly could. It will never be the same. It won't be the same normal. It will be a new normal. It might suck for a while but one day you will wake up and it won't suck so much. And Stiles," Scott made sure Stiles was looking at him. "I'll be there every step of the way."

Stiles gave a half smile. "Fine, then I dare you to throw a water balloon at coach."

"Really? Don't you think the water balloon thing is over done now? Can't you be a little more original? Like maybe, I don't know, bash my head into a rock?" Scott shoved Stiles' shoulder a little and smiled. "Does that mean you'll take the dare?"

Stiles shrugged. "Nothing big, but I'll eat cake." He stood up. "And you're right, water balloons are lame. You have to egg the coach." And his laugh was an evil laugh.

"Stiles!" Scott whined. "Are you kidding me?! There's no way…" The two got back on their bikes as Scott went on a rant as to why he couldn't follow through on his dare and why it shouldn't be held against him (because egging a person is just unacceptable Stiles!) and the two laughed. And that next Tuesday…

"Happy birthday to you…" The trio sang as Stiles gave a small smile, a genuine smile. "Happy birthday dear Stiles, happy birthday to you!" They all yelled out and cheered as the boy blew out the candles. Stilinski almost cried at the sight, thinking that maybe him and his son had a chance at life without Claudia. Melissa clapped her hands before cutting the cake, beyond overjoyed at the improvement in the boy sitting before him. But Scott only glared because he knew what Stiles accepting this dare meant. And Stiles smiled back at the glare, letting the dare distract him from who was missing.

Then later that night the sheriff sat down next to the two boys. "So, those water balloon in your room Stiles… They wouldn't have been involved with the recent water balloon attacks at the station, would they?" He eyed the two boys as he would a suspect.

The two best friends looked at each other and then at the sheriff. Stiles smiled. "That depends…"

Sheriff Stilinski rubbed a hand over his face. "Depends on what Stiles?"

"It depends on what your definition of 'involved' is." He smiled and winced a little, as Scott shook his head and the two accepted their fate, ready for whatever punishment the sheriff and Melissa could come up with for their day of fun.

As much as the Stilinski should punish the boys, he just couldn't. He was too glad to have a happy son back and he knew Scott was the reason for it. If the water balloons were the only collateral then he could live with that. So he laughed and hugged his boys.

/I hope I managed to make this a fun chapter even if it had a serious and kinda sadish theme. Anyways, after this were is one more chapter and then their eighth grade graduation so again, now is the time to tell me if you want any stories for jr. high Scott and Stiles. Also, if you have any ideas for high school (before the bite or any scenes you felt were left out from the show) let me know and I'll see what I can do. Also, can I just say, how crazy was that last episode?! I've been freaking out since Monday so if you want to freak out together feel free to message me! Anywho thanks for reading, please review, and have a wonderful day! :)


	21. Chapter 21: Escape to Bedside

**Escape to Bedside**

Another round of strep…another and another case of strep for the boy and the sheriff just couldn't believe it. How could his usually healthy boy be getting so sick so often? At first he worried it was the stress of losing his mother but when this continued well into 7th grade and now the summer he worried it was something else. After the last bout of the nasty infection the doctor suggested Stiles have his tonsils removed. And the sheriff never wanted to see Stiles with strep ever again, so he agreed and scheduled the surgery as soon as possible.

Of course, as soon as the boys learned that one would have to have surgery they freaked. Scott wanted to be there. He knew how much Stiles hated hospitals. But the sheriff and Melissa knew that this wasn't practical. Especially considering that the surgery had been scheduled for three in the morning so the sheriff didn't have to take too much time off work. Plus, it was a simple procedure. People have to done all the time, right? The actual surgery only takes about 30 minutes. The most of it is pre- and post-op. So, they patiently told the boys that Melissa would take Scott to the hospital before school, which would be around the time Stiles would be out of the grogginess of it all, and they could see each other for a bit. And then Scott had to go to school. Because seventh grade is important, it's the beginning of the year and Scott is already falling behind in some of his classes. However, they didn't get Scott to agree to the plan until they told him that he needed to go to take notes for Stiles.

The plan was set. But, like everything else in their lives, the plan didn't go as expected. Poor Stiles was nervous as hell. He almost passed out when they were putting the IV in, god he hated needles. Then the sheriff got a call so he was out in the hallway when the nurses came back to take Stiles back for his surgery, making the boy almost hysterical. _No, no, no we have to wait for my dad. Why aren't we waiting for my dad? Please just wait…_ But the worst was when they went to put him under. One word: anaphylaxis…

Scott laid in bed looking at his clock, watching the red digits intently, waiting for the time to change. _God why does time take so long when you watch it?_ Scott had been rolling around his bed and looking at the demon clock since 3:07A.M. It was like his body jolted awake at the time his best friend was supposed to go to sleep (a forced sleep). He tried everything to go back to sleep. He almost succeeded around 4:30 but then his almost closed eyes caught the image of him and Stiles in their lacrosse uniforms at their first game (the picture hanging on his wall). Damn.

Finally at 5:15, Scott couldn't take it anymore. He jumped out of bed, took a shower, put on clean clothes, brushed his teeth, put his bag together, put shoes on, and trotted down stairs in a weirdly fast time. He'd never gotten ready that quickly. When he tripped down the stairs he saw his mom standing in the kitchen with her scrubs on. "Mom! Hey I know we said 6:30 but do you think that…" He was cut off by a stern look and wrist snap, holding her hand up. "Mom…"

Melissa turned her body away from Scott as she continued to talk on the phone. "Okay, well Scott just woke up so we will be there soon. God, do you know how rare this is?" She laughed quietly. "I bet if Stiles was awake he could give us the statistics. Listen, it will okay. _Stiles_ will be okay. And we will be there as soon as we can, I promise. Alright, see you soon." Melissa hung up and took a deep breath to prepare herself to face her son.

Before Melissa could even turn all the way around Scott was right on her. "What's wrong? Is Stiles okay? Did everything go okay with the surgery?" Words spilled out of his mouth so quick he felt like he was the hyper, well informed, ADHD best friend. "Mom what's going on?!"

With a deep breath and years of practice calming down distraught family members, Melissa led her son to sit at the table. "Calm down Scott." She waited for Scott to take a few breaths. "Stiles is fine. It seems that Stiles is allergic to aesthesia. When they put him under for the procedure he had a bad reaction. He was so upset before the procedure it took them a while to notice what was happening, which made it worse. They had to inject him with epinephrine. He's still resting, but he's going to be okay. He just might be pretty out of it for a while."

Scott stared at his mom with wide eyes. "What?" He wished Stiles was here to dumb down everything his mom just said but he wasn't, no, Stiles was in the hospital with something wrong with him. He was in the worst place for Stiles to ever be. Plus, his mom just said they injected him with something. Stiles hates needles! The kid almost passed out when the two went to get their shots together a few years ago. "Can I go see him?"

"Yes, you can see him for a little bit. But I doubt he will be awake." Melissa ran a hand through her son's hair hoping to calm him.

Scott crossed his arms over his chest. "I want to stay until he wakes up. Stiles hates hospitals Mom. He's going to freak out when he wakes up. I should be there. It's bad enough you guys wouldn't let me be there before he had the surgery. I bet that's why he had all this bad luck." Scott grumbled.

Melissa tried to remain calm and collected. "Scott, you have school. We've discussed this. You are going to school. I'll pick you up right as the bell rings and you can stay with Stiles until visiting hours are over."

"He's staying the night?!" Scott couldn't image the horror Stiles was going to feel when he discovered this. It was like they were punishing him for being allergic.

"Yes, that's why we have to stop by the Stilinski house to get Stiles' pillow, so he can sleep there."

At least they were going to let him have his pillow, but still, this was bad. "Mom, you can't let them do that! Stiles hates hospitals!" Scott wondered for a minute if there was a way he could sneak Stiles out of the hospital but realized it would be impossible without Stiles there, fully capable, to help him. His plans never worked without Stiles.

"Scott, calm down. If you can't keep a level head then you aren't going to see Stiles at all." That shut the kid up real fast. "Now grab something to eat and we can go see him. And remember, you are going to school today Scott. There's no getting out of that."

The hospital wasn't so bad to Scott. He had spent a lot of time here. Between his mom working here and his asthma, Scott saw the hospital as something different than what most people did. As long as he stayed away from the 'darkwing', the hallway where Stiles' mom…well you know. He didn't smell nothing but sterile and plastic. No, Scott smelt the people. He could smell the flowers people brought in as a 'get well'. He didn't see the morgue signs or the tragedy. He saw the maternity signs and the miracles. A long time ago his mom taught him to focus on the good. But today all Scott could think about was Stiles and how awful this must be to him. Stiles was the one who sat by the bedside, not the one who laid in the bed in pain. Scott needed to fix this somehow.

Walking into the room was almost surreal. The sheriff sat in a chair by the bed, reading through some folder and stapled papers with a worried look on his face and dark circles under his eyes. Just that sight alone would be enough to make Stiles upset (Scott couldn't let Stiles see that). Scott's eyes went to the bed, hating what he saw. Stiles looked so small lying in the hospital bed. He was hooked to an IV (_jeez, I bet that was a fight to get in_), a heart monitor, and a breathing tube. Scott had never seen Stiles like this and he never wanted to.

Scott walked to the side of the bed and took Stiles hand in his, grateful for the warmth he felt when he feared he'd feel cold. "Hey Stiles, I'm here buddy." He smiled.

"He's okay Scott. Really if there's any good place to have a severe allergic reaction it's in a hospital. I mean they had everything they needed right there." Sheriff tried to lighten the mood like Stiles would if he had been awake. "They'll remove the breathing tube soon. It was just something to help him breath during the initial reaction. The drugs are doing their job though, Scott. He's going to be fine." The sheriff kept repeating himself, almost like he was reassuring himself as much as he was Scott.

The boy just nodded, looking at his friend. "What's that?" Scott noticed a rash on Stiles skin now that he was closer.

Melissa looked over at the boy from where she stood (by the sheriff looking at the folder the sheriff had previously been looking at). "That's just a rash Scott. It's normal from an allergic reaction. It will go away. Like the sheriff said, he's going to be fine. Stilinski, who was your doctor…"

Scott sat on the side of the bed as the two adults began some conversation. Scott didn't care. He just wanted Stiles to wake up while he was there. Maybe if the boy in the hospital bed said that he wanted Scott there the two dumb adults couldn't refuse him. Scott prayed that was the case.

But time betrayed him again. The clock that had once ticked too slowly was now ticking too fast. Before Scott knew it his mom was telling him it was time to go to school and Stiles had yet to wake up. "But mom, Stiles hasn't woken up yet." Scott looked at her with pleading eyes.

The sheriff smiled at him. "Come on Scott, we talked about this. One of you has to be there to take notes. If you're both gone then who else is going to help you two catch up?"

"Stiles says Lydia takes amazing notes." Scott grumbled half under his breath.

The sheriff laughed. "I'm sure he says Lydia Martin does a lot of things amazingly. That doesn't change the fact that at least one of you need to be in class today. How about I call you when he wakes up? Then you can talk to him if he feels up to it. And you get to see him as soon as you're out of school."

Scott shrugged as his mom dragged him out of the room. "I'll be back, Stiles." He looked at his friend, trying to pull from Stiles' energy to come up with a plan…

Half way through first period, while Scott watched Lydia as Stiles would be doing, he came up with a plan. There was one way for Scott to get to the hospital. One perfect guaranteed way. And next period was P.E. which was just wonderful…

As the class started their laps around the gym as a warm-up as they always did Scott smiled. His plan was just too easy. He ran in front of everyone unlike his usual self. Stiles and he usually ran in the back of the group, barely jogging. But Scott went all out. And just before he gave himself a real asthma attack he doubled over breathing heavy. He looked up at the teacher with a panicked expression. The teacher wasted no time getting him to the nurse who called his mom. For _some_ reason the inhaler just wasn't working. And because it was faster last time, Melissa agreed to pick Scott up and drive him to the hospital herself…plan achieved.

"It's okay, we're almost there. Just try to breathe Scott, just breathe." Melissa said as she rubbed her son's back and she drove too fast to hospital. But when she pulled her car to a stop outside the hospital she didn't even get to reach Scott's door when it flung open and he ran out. "Scott!" After momentary shock she ran after him. "Scott!" Scott smiled as he ignored his mother's calls and ran down the hallways he knew too well. He made it to Stiles floor and ran into the room.

As by fate, Stiles was coming to just seconds before Scott rounded the corner to his room. "Stiles!" Scott cheered seeing fluttering eyes. "Hey, buddy, dude, it's alright." He took a breath with his inhaler before taking one of Stiles' shaking hands. The boy in the bed looked around franticly, in an obvious state of panic, and started to breath funny. The machines by his bed were beeping much faster, his heart rate and blood pressure going up. "You're okay Stiles. Your dad is here, my mom is here, and I'm here. You're fine." He smiled and sat on the bed. "And my plan worked this time."

Stiles brought his eyebrows together in confusion but his panic seemed to have subsided. His breathing tube was gone but his voice came out scratchy. "What are you talking about?" The sight of his best friend distracted him from being in the worst place possible and the aching feeling all over his body. "What happened? Why are you breathing so hard? Why am I so sore? Wait, what plan?"

"Scott McCall!" Melissa stormed into the room and Scott's smile dropped. "Did you just fake an asthma attack?!"

Scott sheepishly turned to his mother. "Yes. But to be fair I did it for a good cause. I mean, look at Stiles! The poor kid almost died this morning!"  
"What?! I almost died?!" Stiles tried to sit up but the sheriff stopped him.

The sheriff shook his head trying very hard not to laugh at the situation. "No, you didn't almost die. Scott stopped being so dramatic. You had an allergic reaction to the aesthesia. And you really shouldn't be talking. You still had your tonsils removed. Just take it easy. I'm going to go get your doctor." With that the sheriff left the boys to Melissa's mercy.

Before Melissa could start her rant or release her fury Stiles looked up at her, causing her whole stance to soften. "How are you feeling Stiles?"

"Better with Scott here." He gave the best puppy eyes he could muster, even if Scott was much better at it than he was. "Please don't make him leave. I hate this place." Stiles didn't want to talk anymore, which was a first, but he needed to defend his friend. "Imagine how upset I would have been if I woke up without him here."

Giving in, Melissa sank into the chair by the bed. "Fine, you can stay. But you will be punished for using your asthma, young man. That's so not okay." She took a breath. "I'm just glad you're both okay."

Scott smiled at his mom and then at Stiles. "Yeah, me too."

That night, because Stiles had to stay the night, Scott managed to escape the nurses who tried to force him out and snuck up to Stiles' bedside as the sheriff slept in the chair nearby. "Hey, I bet I have another hour maybe two if I can hear them coming and find a place to hide in time." Scott looked around the room for possible hiding spots.

Stiles smiled. "Good. I hate this place." He tried to keep his eyes open.

Scott sat on the bottom of the bed. "Yeah, I figured you would be one of the people allergic to this place." He laughed.

"5,000 in every 25,000 anesthetics with a 3.4% mortality rate; I'm a rarity." Stiles gave a sleepy smile. "My throat hurts." He squirmed in the bed.

"I could go try to find you some ice cream."

Before Scott could get off the bed Stiles' hand shot out and grabbed ahold of a wrist. "No, don't go." He didn't mean to sound desperate but he didn't want to be alone here. Sure his dad was here, but he was asleep. And this place… "I'm fine." Stiles smiled.

Scott nodded knowingly. "Well, I could hide under that sink and you could hit the call button and have the nurse bring you a smoothie, their supposed to feel better than some of the other stuff. I bet that would put their search on a rest too."

"Look at you, full of plans today." Stiles smiled as Scott went over to sink.

"Guy's gotta do something when you take his best friend from him."

Stiles laughed as much as he could. "Do you mean when you take his brain from him?" He joked as they had often stated that Stiles was Scott's brain, and Scott was Stiles' conscience. It's why they worked so well.

Scott smiled as he huddled under the sink. "Exactly. Maybe we have some psychic connection though. Think about it." He remarked as Stiles was trying to laugh at him again. "How else would I be able to escape school to your bedside if I didn't have some connection to your brainwaves?"

"I don't know. But I'm happy you did." Stiles hit the call button.

"Me too."

For the second time that day one of Scott's plans worked and the two boys ate ice cream and shared a smoothie while they watched late night TV and Scott did the talking for once, keeping Stiles distracted. Somehow, even with where they were, the boys fell asleep smiling with Stiles clasping onto the bottom of Scott's shirt for comfort.

/There's another longer chapter, I hope that's okay. It was also a requested idea so I hope I did it justice (let me know, you know who you are). So yeah thank you so much for reading my story you guys (and an even bigger thanks to those who have reviewed or messaged me), please review and comment, and have a glorious day my darlings! :)


	22. Chapter 22: Pomp and Circumstance

**Pomp and Circumstance**

It was over, Jr. High was over. Things were going to change. Stiles hated change. He didn't mind little changes, in fact he liked a lot of the small changes (like his new apparent fashion sense) but he didn't like the big changes, the changes that tore people apart. It brought him too much anxiety.

Scott, however, was a ball of energy and pure happiness. "Dude! This is it; our last day of eighth grade!" Scott jumped at his best friend as he finished cleaning out his locker. "We are high schoolers! Do you know what this means? We will be on the high school lacrosse team! We will be invited to high school parties! We will get girlfriends. Heck, we will be able to drive soon! Just imagine the possibilities of high school!" Scott's smile was almost sickening.

"Yeah, all of the great possibilities of high school. You know, like being the small fish of an even bigger pond! That just sounds great Scott. And you do know that there's a strong possibility that we will only have like two classes together? And let's be honest, if I take all of the AP and honor classes my teachers want me to take I'll never see you. Plus, we didn't go to parties before, what does going up a grade into a much bigger building change about that? And Scott, we both still suck at lacrosse. We will be bench warmers. But hey, go high school!" Stiles gave a sarcastic smile.

Scott took his hand off of Stiles shoulder and took a step back. "Well aren't you just a bottle of sunshine this glorious afternoon." Scott laughed a little. "I hope that's not you practicing for your graduation speech."

With a laughed Stile shook his head. "No, I don't think they would approve the truth like that. Did you know that I have to have my speech approved? Seriously, how stupid is that? What are they going to do? Hold my diploma from me because I give our class some tough truths or tell the world about kids smoking in the bathroom when everyone knows about it anyways?"

"I still can't believe they're letting you give the speech. I mean, I knew you were smart but still. Teachers were always saying you were number two in our class."

Smiling, Stiles thought back to a week ago. "I am number two in our class Scott." Stiles shut his locker for the last time and walked away to let Scott stare into the air confused.

_Only a week left of classes and everyone was starting to act crazy. No one was paying much attention in class, but what eighth grader can pay attention with their diploma insight? Stiles just rolled his eyes at the childish tactics as he thought of one final great prank to leave the school with when he felt a tap on his shoulder. And when he turned around he almost fainted._

_ Standing there was the wonderful Lydia Martin. Stiles had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming (although in all of his dreams with Lydia there were never this many annoying students in the background getting on his nerves). "Stilinski, right?" She looked him over with a questioning look._

_ He gave a slightly crooked smile. "Stiles, but you already know that. We've been in the same class almost our whole lives. But you rarely ever talk to me. So what do I own the pleasure?" That's right, Stiles can play it cool. "Because you know, it is a pleasure to talk to the great Lydia Martin. I mean, what was the world thinking putting so much greatness into one strawberry-blonde body? It's almost too much to handle." Okay, so he can't play it cool._

_ Lydia only rolled her eyes and shoved the boy into the closest classroom. "Listen, I don't have much time. My boyfriend is waiting for me. I need a favor." She looked down at her nails as if this whole conversation was a nuisance to her. "Yesterday Mrs. Nelson told me that I was ranked one in our class. With graduation coming up, you know what that means." She didn't even want to say valedictorian out loud in case someone over heard. "But I have a reputation to uphold."_

_ Stiles nodded. "You don't want people to know how smart you really are." He felt special to be one of the few to know how smart Lydia was._

_ "Yeah, whatever, so you need to give the speech at graduation."_

_ Pure shock came over Stiles. "Wait, what?" He looked around the empty classroom and then back at the goddess in front of him. "Are you, um, are you asking me to give the valedictorian speech for you? I'm, um, have you noticed that I'm not good with words? I mean, well, I say a lot of words but to most people I don't make much sense or I offend them or…"_

_ "Stilinski stop." She rolled her eyes. "You're the second best in our class, probably because you copy my notes over my shoulder. That means you can take my place. The principle said I couldn't give up my title unless I talked to you. Now that I've talk to you, let me make this completely clear."_

_ "You mean you want to threaten me."_

_ She smiled. "You are smart." The bell rang. "Don't you dare tell anyone about this Stilinski or I swear I'll use my intense knowledge of chemistry to make sure they never find your body. Okay?" She popped up on her heals as she gave one last smile and began to walk out the room but quickly added over her shoulder, "And don't expect to copy my notes in high school kid."_

_ Stiles smiled like an idiot. "She noticed that I copied her notes."_

That's how Stiles wound up giving the stupid speech at graduation. It only added to his anxiety. He hated this graduation, now he had to speak at it and have his words approved by the teachers, principle, and school board. Why did they even allow Stiles to do this?

The two days between the last school day and graduation seemed to go by too quickly, especially with Scott coming over to distract him every chance he got. But now it was the day of graduation. Stiles had his speech ready and approved…and god he hated it. It wasn't anything like Stiles and nothing he wants to leave his class with. But he still had that last prank up his sleeve…

Everyone was rammed into the too hot gym waiting for the gowned children to march in. Melissa and the sheriff sat by each other, both proud and happy to be there but both on call and praying they wouldn't be called away. Then the cliché music everyone knows started, Pomp and Circumstance, and the young graduates made their way down the isle of chairs in the gym. The ceremony seemed to be going as planned. It was cute and simple.

But then Stiles as called to the podium. "Hello class, it's my job to reminisce about our past nine years together and give hope for the next four. I'm supposed to say things like we will have each other in these next years as we find ourselves in a bigger pond and start the next step in our lives. I should say something about not forgetting our memories we've created here. And if I was really cliché I'd say we were all unique and have a big future ahead of us. But I'm not cliché. I'm Stiles. And honestly, most of you probably don't know who I am and probably won't remember me. But remember this. We aren't unique. We are all students in a big sea of other students fighting for the same things. And while some of us have a big future, not all of us do. Maybe some of us will find ourselves in high school while others will only suffer through until college. We are going to move into high school where our cliques will only further define us. The popular kids will be even more popular. The geeks and nerds will find other geeks and nerds. And then there will be some of us who will remain in the shadows. And we will play our parts just like all of the generations before us. There will be bullies, because even if the schools say that it's not a thing anymore we all know it is. I'm sure there will be a few STIs or teen pregnancies because that's our generation. Some will drink, party, do drugs, all of the above, or just judge those who do. There will be the kids who do everything right: get good grades, stay out of trouble, and will only get made fun of for it. We will be high schoolers. We will be teenagers. And with that comes good old American teenage angst. But hopefully we will all have our friends." Stiles looked back at Scott, who was giving him a weird smile. "And with a new school comes new adventures. So, yeah, congratulations on graduating guys, we did it." He smiled and went back to his seat, ignoring the glares and the wave of awkward claps.

The ceremony continued and Stiles took his diploma from a hesitant principle. He looked out to see his dad clapping as he held his phone to his ear. The man managed to see his son get the diploma but he still got a call to leave.

As the ceremony began to end Stiles looked towards the middle of the class (where the M's were) and caught Scott's eye, the two starting to smile. Just as the principle started to congratulate the class Stiles' plan went into effect. Fireworks (very small ones that wouldn't burn down the building) were set off around the gym, causing the fire alarms to set off, and chaos erupted everywhere. A few of the teachers glared in Scott and Stiles' direction knowing it had to be them but also not bothering with saying anything in fear it would interfere with ridding them of the boys.

Later that night after being dropped by both of their working parents, Stiles and Scott sat in the woods by a large boulder. "We're going to be in high school." Stiles said a little sleepily as he looked up at the stars. "What does that even mean? What's going to happen to us?"

Scott looked over at Stiles like he was crazy. "What are you talking about Stiles?" He huffed. "We're going to be best friends. We're always going to be best friends, no matter what." He said with confidence. Even if he wasn't the smartest kid in the class, Scott knew one thing for sure. There was one thing he would never doubt: he would always have Stiles and Stiles would always have him.

/So I'm not the happiest with this chapter but I felt like a graduation was needed before I moved onto high school. Speaking of which, let me know if you have any story ideas that you want to see before the werewolf stuff (I only have a few of my own and one requested) and let me know if you have some missing scenes or something from season 1 you want (although I'm still not sure how I'm going to do that so any suggestions are welcomed). Finally, I would like to send out a big thanks to all of you who left uplifting comments and reviews this past week in particular. This week was a rough one in my life and on top of it all I got my first negative comment (which just came at the wrong time and hurt because I really do take my stories to heart). So the happy and nice ones were really appreciated. They made my day and kept me writing! Anywho, I'll stop talking now!

Thank you for reading, please review, and have a marvelous day! :) /


	23. Chapter 23: Summer Distractions

**Summer Distractions**

The boys tried to enjoy their summer before high school started. They were walking through the mall aimlessly trying to distract themselves from a boring summer when they passed the pet store. "Dude," Stiles grabbed Scott's shirt to stop him. "Dude they have a boa constrictor! I want a boa constrictor!"

Scott laughed. "What would you do with a snake?"

Stiles shrugged as he looked through the window. "I'd feed him mice and stuff. Or you know, train him to strangle and eat my enemies." He smiled before running off into the pet shop.

Scott couldn't help but roll his eyes before following his friend. "Stiles your dad would never let you get a boa constrictor." He walked over to his friend that seemed to be stuck to the glass, admiring the scaly beast. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, come on! My dad would love for me to get a pet! It would teach me that responsibility thing he's always griping to me about and it will keep me company during those long terrible nights when he has to work late." Stiles smiled wide and winked before turning back to the glass. "Plus I have some money saved up so he won't have to spend a dime on any of it. It will be great."

The boys talked to a worker for a bit, Scott shaking his head at Stiles' seriousness, before they left. "You're not getting a snake Stiles. Your dad…"

"Stop being such a Debby Downer Scott." Stiles shoved his friend when they made it outside. "Hey, do you want to go down to the station? He's always more understanding and whatnot when you're around. I feel like that should give me a complex. You know, him trusting you more just isn't right." Stiles laughed little as they hopped on their bikes.

Scott nodded and took a deep breath. "Yeah, we just have to be careful." And Stiles nodded knowingly. It was an especially hot day. And not only hot but extremely humid. It was the most humid summer they had ever seen. The heat and humidity put Scott at a higher risk for an asthma attack. So they made sure to have the extra inhaler in Stiles' pocket just in case.

One of the main roads was closed for some weird construction, even the sidewalks cut off. So the boys had to take the long way around town to the police station. They were almost there when someone called out to them. "Hey, Mr. Stilinski, Mr. McCall, how is your summer going? Have you finished your summer reading?" Their English teacher who had assigned the summer reading for all of them to enter the honors program at the high school stood on the sidewalk with his dog.

The boys stopped, Scott breathing a little heavier than he should. Stiles put on a winning smile before talking. "Yeah, of course, who wouldn't want to be in the honors program? I mean, all of the cool kids are doing it these days."

Scott couldn't take it anymore. He fumbled into his pocket for his inhaler but it fell out, rolling into a near-by storm drain. He turned to Stiles but his friend was stuck in his banter with their teacher. Scott tried to get off his bike and reach over to Stiles for the extra inhaler but his chest was so tight and his vision was blurry. He had that sense of drowning again.

"Yeah, no, I totally know what you're talking about. I read that. It was…" Before Stiles could come up with a lie about a book he hadn't read Scott fell onto the ground beside him. "Scott?" He looked down to see the faint shade of blue starting around Scott's lips. Stiles instantly pulled out the extra inhaler and dropped to his knees next to Scott. "Come on buddy."

"Really boys? That's a little dramatic. Faking an asthma attack to see your friend in the hospital is one thing Scott, but faking an asthma attack to get him out of an embarrassing lie is just a waste of your condition. Seriously, boys, I'm disappointed." The teacher began to walk away shaking his head.

Stiles looked up at the adult in horror. "What?! Are you kidding me? He isn't faking this! We need help!" Stiles tried to press the inhaler into Scott's limp hand but nothing. He put the inhaler to Scott's lips and administered the medicated puffs himself. "Scott come on!"

"You boys should have tried out for the play. I never knew you were so dedicated. If only…" The teacher seemed so smug.

It made Stiles' blood boil. "WE AREN'T PLAYING! GET HIM HELP NOW!" Stiles screamed, using a voice of command he'd never used before. "We need to get him to a hospital now." His voice was weirdly calm for it being Stiles. That's what got the teacher's attention.

It didn't matter though. A police car pulled up on the scene, seeing the sheriff's kid riding around was a normal occurrence. Most of the deputies would stop and say hi or give the kids a hard time but this time Stiles was obviously in distress. "Stiles? Is everything okay?" The deputy (a man who had been on the force with Sheriff Stilinski for a long time) said as he stepped out of the car.

Stiles looked up at the officer with glossy eyes wanting to cry. "He's having an asthma attack, a real asthma attack. We need to get him to the hospital." Stiles felt a bit of relief seeing the deputy, but he couldn't break down. Scott still needed him. "Please, we need to hurry. His lips are turning blue." With that the older man helped pick the kid up and put him into the backseat with Stiles before jumping behind the wheel, turning his sirens on, and running them off to the hospital.

The hospital seemed to be a bit of a blur for Stiles. He had been knocked out of the way when Scott was placed on a gurney and Melissa came up to take Stiles' place holding Scott's hand. Nurses and doctors took his friend away as he sank down the hallway wall. He didn't know what to do or where to go. He wasn't a little kid who could force his way into Scott's room anymore. He'd have to wait until they would let him back there. But he wasn't going anywhere, he knew that.

A faint beeping and soreness in his chest let Scott know where he was and what happened when he woke up. He looked around the room, not surprised to see his mom leaning over his bed asleep from the chair by his side. But on his other side was Stiles, his knee bouncing (causing the hospital bed to shake a little) as he had a laptop on the bedside table and chewed on his thumbnail. Scott couldn't help but smile a little before nudging his friend with his leg, not feeling up to speaking yet (not that he could behind the oxygen mask).

Stiles jumped, causing him to fall off the bed and almost knock the laptop off. "Whoa! Dude, don't do that!" He regained his composure and sat back on the bed where he had been. "Glad you're awake, now you can help me with this. Okay, so I was looking up boa constrictor's online…" Stiles was interrupted by a groan from Scott. "What? I have to do my research before I buy the thing. Oh, let me tell you, my dad was a lot more empathetic about me getting a pet when my best friend was in the hospital. So thanks for that one bro." Stiles held up a thumbs-up.

Scott rolled his eyes, getting across what he wanted to say. _Way to take advantage of my situation Stiles. But seriously, a boa constrictor?_

"Shut up Scott, you'll wake your mom." Stiles looked back at his laptop.

A shuffling surprised them both. "No, you already did that." Melissa rose up from her spot and rubbed her eyes before looking at her son with a soft smile. "Hey kid, how are you feeling?" Scott just smiled back and gave a thumbs-up. "Okay, well I have to get back to work. I'll stop by when the doctor is supposed to check in on you. The sheriff said he could come and take the two of you home when he finishes with his shift. Does that sound good?" In response she got a nod from her boy. "Alright, I love you." She leaned down and placed a kiss on his forehead. "I'll see you later. Bye Stiles."

Stiles only waved over his shoulder, completely immersed in his readings. "Dude the more I feed it the faster it grows…I could have one over twelve feet. Wait…I have to feed it a cute little rat? I guess I could do it. I've done worse." He sighed and looked back at Scott who was giving him a weird look. "What? It will be like a little white furry sacrifice. I mean, the pagans made sacrifices all the time. If they can sacrifice virgins and babies I think I can sacrifice a rat."

The boy in the bed just shook his head.

With a deep breath Stiles pushed himself away from the laptop. "You have to stop with all these asthma attacks man. It's so not cool. I'm not spending anymore summers in the hospital. I really can't if I'm going to have a boa to take care of. Seriously, think about the children."

Scott laughed.

Stiles felt accomplished. He looked back at the laptop. "We could watch something while we wait."

Scott shrugged his shoulders. He thought about telling Stiles that he was tired and would most likely fall sleep and Stiles should just go home. But he knew that Stiles knew this. They had been in this situation too many times for the two of them not to know the routine. And Scott knew that there was no way he could talk Stiles out of staying with him. He knew Stiles would stay by his side the whole night and he was okay with that. So they settled down in the bed and watched a movie.

After being checked by the doctor and seeing his mom again, the boys were picked up by the sheriff. As soon as they got into the squad car Stiles started jumping in his seat (probably from having to sit still for too long in the hospital). "Hey, dad, can we stop by the mall on our way home?"

"Stiles, you aren't really getting a boa, are you?" Scott just stared at his friend.

Stiles looked at Scott like he was missing the obvious. "I already told you I was. He will be a better distraction from the boredom of our lives than all your persistent hospital visits."

"Yeah, okay." Scott laughed and sank back into the seat, so happy to have a friend as weird as Stiles. With friends like these they'd never truly be bored.

/There's one on more of a happy note! Thanks for the awesome reviews and messages you guys! They mean a lot to me! I just wanted to let you guys know that finals for my summer classes are coming up and then not too long after that I go back to school (which means packing, shopping, and all that craziness). So, I'm going to try to keep up with one update a week (I'll try to get ahead during the week and half I have off) but if I fall behind please be patient and know I haven't given up. I'm just a busy college student. But thanks for reading, please review, and have a glorious day! :)


	24. Chapter 24: A Death but No Funeral

**A Death But No Funeral**

A small hiss made Scott shake his head. "I seriously can't believe you got a snake." He looked at the new addition to this best friend's bedroom. "We're starting high school tomorrow and you get a snake. There has to be a joke in there somewhere."

"There is. But luckily I'm the funny one so I don't have to endure it." Stiles smiled as he picked up his new pet's weekly meal. "Alright, dude, watch this." He took out the nice sized rat and lowered it into the tank with the snake by its tail. "The guy at the store said he would have frozen rats for me to thaw and feed this little guy but for now I got to do what I got to do." Stiles let the rat go and closed the lid of the tank. "This thing is fierce." He watched as the rat curled into a corner helplessly and the snake began the hunt for its prey. "Scott, are you watching buddy?" Stiles turned around.

But Scott wasn't looking. Trying hard not to seem too unmanly, Scott was looking intently at Stiles' video game selection instead of the attack on the poor rat. "Whatever Stiles, it's not that cool. It's just nature or whatever, prey and predator crap."

Stiles looked away to his friend just as the boa began to wrap around the rat and squeeze the life out of its tiny little body. "Are you really bothered by this dude? We aren't kids anymore. You should be able to handle a boa eating a rat. What are you going to do when we have actual dissections in our science classes this year, or at the vet's? You're still applying for that job aren't you?" Stiles turned back around just in time to see the boa dislocate its jaw and swallow the white fluff.

"Says the guy who paled at the movies last weekend when a guy's arm was chopped off." Scott scoffed and finally turned towards the glass tank as the boa finished its meal and put its jaw back in place. "So what is the plan for tomorrow morning? I mean, we have most of our classes together but not first period. We're still going to meet up before though, right?" Scott couldn't image starting out his day without his best friend by his side. Stiles had been there since kindergarten.

Turning away from the boa Stiles nodded. "Yeah, we can still ride to school together tomorrow. Dude, I can't wait until next year! I'll be able to drive!" Stiles plopped down on his bed.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, I guess there is one benefit to your parents waiting a year to put you into school. We get a ride to school before most. Is your dad going to get you a car?"

"I don't know, I hope so or I'll have to figure out how to fix up a cheap junker if he doesn't. But let's talk about the real important things here." Stiles sat up on his elbows. "We have a boa now. Just image the pranks we can pull with this beauty! I mean, there's a whole school of teachers that don't know us Scott. We have to break in the new school. Do you have any ideas?"

Scott sighed as he sat in his friend's desk chair. "No, but I never have any ideas. I just kind of go along with whatever you come up with in this department. Let's be honest." He turned the TV on along with the gaming consol. "What do you want to play?"

"If we start playing we're going to be up all night. Is that really how you want to start high school?" Stiles laughed a little picking up the other controller.

"Do you know any other way?" Scott smiled and the two played into the night. But around midnight Scott turned to his friend. "Don't you ever wish there was more? I mean, we have fun but nothing ever really happens here, you know? I just wish we could have real adventures, something other than the stupid pranks we play. Don't you?"

With a shrug Stiles turned the game off. "I don't know. We don't need whatever you call a real adventure to have fun. I think we do okay on our own. But I promise to come straight to you if I hear of anything adventure friendly." He turned to check on his new pet. "My dad said he would stop by to make sure I was asleep during his shift. He doesn't want me staying up all night just because he works until three. So, are you crashing here or going home?" It really wasn't a question.

The next morning the sheriff stopped in his son's room sighing at what he found: his son lying half off the bed and Scott lying awkwardly on the desk chair. "I should just get a second bed in here." He shook his head before stepping into the room. "Boys!" He yelled abruptly, causing the boys to jump and fall from their respective places. "Up, you have your first day of high school today!" He gave Stiles a pat on the head. "Have fun today boys." And then he left, hoping to get a few more hours of sleep before he had to go back into work. "Stay out of trouble!"

"Define trouble." Stiles grumbled as he rubbed a hand over his face before turning to Scott. "Why can't he use a gentle voice to wake me?" Stiles hated mornings. He never felt like he was getting enough sleep.

Scott, slightly more of a morning person, smiled a little sleepily. "Come on Stiles, let's get going. We have a day of new beginnings before us!" Scott jumped up. For some reason, when his mom wasn't pulling him out of bed it was easier to wake up. Or maybe it was when he saw how ridiculous Stiles looked trying to stay in bed. "We're high schoolers, real teenagers."

Stiles grumbled into his pillow. "Why can't high school start later?"

"Come on let's go!" Scott pulled his friend from the bed and they got ready for school.

High school wasn't as amazing as Scott thought it would be but it wasn't as awful as Stiles thought it would be. It was just another school really, there were still invisible except there was more homework. Scott seemed to struggle a little bit more but Stiles was keeping up just find. In fact, Stiles was growing bored already. He needs something else to occupy his mind while he sat in class. So, he started thinking of new ways to get himself and Scott into trouble at a new level of education. And with that new pet of his…he had it.

Stiles came up to Scott with a big smile on his face one morning. "Hello my friend."

It was suspicious enough that Stiles hadn't ridden his bike with Scott that morning, but that smile just confirmed that Stiles was up to something. "No, whatever you're about to do, no. I have two tests today. I'm pretty sure that science teacher already hates us and I'm not so sure about the economics teacher who is also the lacrosse coach, by the way. We have to play it cool just a little longer Stiles." Scott begged his friend, hoping to stay a good kid just a little longer.

With an exasperated sigh Stiles shook his head. "It's really already too late. Anyways, you want an adventure. Well, here's the next best thing." Stiles gave Scott a folded piece of paper. And waited for Scott to realize what exactly was written on the paper…a map to where his boa was hidden.

"No, no you did not…" Scott let his eyes run over the paper. "You put the snake in the girl's locker room?"

"There's a joke in that one too." Stiles laughed and started towards his first class. The whole day Stiles' mind went back to the boa and what an adventure she must be having. He kept waiting to hear some girl scream. But when it didn't happen he moved to plan B, with some help from Scott of course. "Come on, stop being such a wuss."

Scott kept looking over his shoulder as they went into the boy's locker room after retrieving the boa from the other locker room (just barely escaping being caught by the volleyball coach). "We are putting a giant snake in Jackson's locker. I'm sorry if I'm feeling a little nervous." Scott whispered a little too loudly as the two went through the lockers.

"Echoes Scott, a locker room echoes." Stiles bent to skillfully pick the lock on the locker. "It's not even that big of a deal anyways. He'll freak out for a few seconds while we're changing for P.E. next hour, then I'll just come up and grab her and we'll be done. As long as a teacher doesn't see there's nothing he can do. And how often do you see a teacher in the locker room, the boy's locker room? It stinks in here. Just calm down, will you?"

The boys did what they needed to do and they left for the rest of their lunch. By the time P.E. came around they were both jumpy with nerves. Scott was afraid to get caught and Stiles was just excited. But as the two made it a little too obvious they were watching Jackson, there was no yelling or commotion as Jackson opened his locker because there was no boa. "Stiles, where is your boa?"

Before Stiles could answer Scott's question with something evasive and sarcastic there was a yelling from the coach's office off of the locker room. "I have a feeling the coach might have found her."

Not even an hour later the two teens found themselves in the principal's office as the principal talked to Melissa and the sheriff, both of whom had to come down from work. Stiles was biting at his nails and Scott was running a hand through his hair when the door finally opened. "I swear Scott had practically nothing to do with this." Stiles said instantly, jumping up from his seat.

"Practically is enough." Melissa shook her head and gave both of the boys a glare.

Stiles shook his head. "Awesome. So what's the punishment?"

"You're going to clean the locker room after school for a month and help the coach out with cleaning equipment and whatever else he asks for during lunch and after school for a month instead of normal detention. I can't believe you two. Couldn't high school have been a new start with no behavioral issues?" The sheriff shook his head. "And Stiles, you're grounded."

With a sigh Stiles accepted it. "Fine. Where's my boa?"

"When the coach yelled, the boa tried to get away but was crushed under a shelf that fell during the commotion. I'm sorry, she's dead." The sheriff couldn't muster up much sympathy for the kid. If he had just left the snake at home where she's supposed to be she would still be alive.

Mouth hanging open Stiles fell back into his seat. "She's dead? But…but…" He never meant for his first pet to be collateral damage in all of this. He just wanted to have some fun. "Where is she?"

"They already, um, disposed of the body." The sheriff cleared his throat. "Look, I have to go back to work. Just go straight home after dealing with the coach after school. We will talk about your grounding when I get home. And Stiles, try not to get into any more trouble today, please." With that the sheriff left.

Melissa gave Scott a pat on the shoulder. "I have to go too. We will talk later as well." She gave him one last stern look before leaving.

Scott turned to his friend, seeing the pure disappointment and sadness all over his face. As much as Scott didn't like the boa he didn't want Stiles to lose his pet. "It's okay buddy, let's go. We have another class before our punishment begins." Scott pulled Stiles to his feet and almost had to drag him to class.

After receiving a the most bizarre speech from the coach, which Stiles had to practically bite a hole through his tongue to keep from talking back or correcting the man, the two were sitting on the locker room benches scrubbing equipment as the coach sat in his office grumbling about some freshman who had ruined the equipment named Greenburg.

Scott looked over at his friend who still seemed a little broken hearted. "Stiles, are you okay?"

"She's dead Scott. I got her killed. And I don't even have a body to bury." Stiles huffed and threw down the cleaned padding before picking up something new. "What's a funeral without a body?"

"Closure?" Scott sprayed more disinfectant on the padding he was currently trying to clean but seemed to be permanently stained. "Stiles, we can…"

"If you say get another boa I'm going to hit you."

Scott smiled. "I was going to say we can get a dog. Maybe one of those domesticated wolves. They looked pretty bad a…"

Again, Stiles interrupted his friend. "You really think I could keep a dog alive if I can't even keep a snake alive? It was supposed to be easy. But no, I had to go ruining it with one of my plans. But hey, at least you're getting in good with the lacrosse coach! I mean, with all this extra time we're spending with him he will most definitely know who we are, right?"

"I don't know, he seems a little insane." Scott looked passed his friend into the office where the coach was laughing at something unknown to everyone else. "I'm a little afraid to try out now."

"Oh no, you're trying out. You put me through too much to back out now. After all your talk about how great high school lacrosse will be, we are trying out. We are proud benchwarmers!" Stiles grabbed a lacrosse ball that needed cleaning and threw it at his friend, hitting him maybe a little too hard.

The two hadn't noticed the coach coming into the locker room. "So you want to be a benchwarmer Stilinski? Well if you keep playing with snakes I'm sure your butt will be nice and sore. From sitting on the bench." The coach yelled before leaving again.

Stiles squinted his eyes at the area the coach had been standing. "Does he actually listen to himself? Or is he just that oblivious?" And the two laughed their way through their punishment.

/It's a little late but it's here! I know there isn't much of a purpose to this chapter but I wanted to kinda ease them into high school with one chapter and explain away the boa. Because there wasn't much to this the next chapter (which is already written, it just needs to be edited) will be up real soon, I promise! I've finished my summer classes (I actually got a B in the class I need for grad school, I'm beyond excited about that) and I'll head back to school next week so if the updates get a little late, I'm sorry just stick with me. Anyways, thanks for reading, please review, and have a great day!


	25. Chapter 25: Class Interruptions

**Class Interruption**

Boring. Why is class so boring? Stiles started to tap his pencil on the desk in sync with his bouncing leg. A few students were starting to get annoyed, looking in his direction, and the teacher was beginning to tense as she wrote on the board. These were all the signs of Stiles getting into trouble. He was extra antsy today and everyone seemed on edge. So Scott leaned over, "Stiles, bro, calm down."

Stiles jumped a little at his friend's whisper. He looked over at Scott and then at the rest of the classroom. He sometimes forgot how annoying he could be around everyone else when he spent the entire summer with Scott. "Sorry." He mumbled and tried to slide down back in his seat.

The relaxed stance only lasted a few minutes before he was fidgeting again and Scott was leaning over yet another time. "Dude, did you take your medication?" He kept his voice low, hoping no one would hear and he wouldn't embarrass Stiles. Stiles just nodded at him and tried to find a new position for less movement. "Stiles…"

Before anyone else could say anything the door opened interrupting the whole class, but not Stiles' jumping knee. "Hi, sorry to interrupt, but I need to take Mr. Stilinski to the office with me." The school principle came into the classroom, looking at Stiles and then at the teacher.

Stiles instantly sat up straight in his seat. "What? I didn't even do anything today!" He obviously thought he was in trouble. "I just tapped my pencil." He ignored the few chuckles that spread through the classroom.

The school principal stepped further into the room along with the school counselor. _Wait, why is the school counselor with him?_ "Stiles, you're not in trouble." The school counselor used a soft and calm voice. "Just gather your things and come with us please." Her expression was unreadable and it unnerved Stiles. He didn't like where this situation was heading.

Desperately, Stiles looked over at Scott who had a confused and worried look on his face. "Um, yeah, okay." Stiles started to get his stuff together. "Scott…" He whispered over to his friend. "I don't think I want to go." Stiles' mind began to think of all the terrible things that could have happened and could feel the panic begin to wash over him.

Sensing his friend was stuck in his seat, Scott spoke up. "It will be okay. Just text me as soon as you can." Scott gave his friend a pat on the shoulder, forcing the panic to slow down.

The school counselor took a step forward. "Actually, Scott, you should come too." She knew all about the friendship between the boys and knew it could help keep Stiles calm and collected. She knew Scott could handle Stiles when no one else could.

Both heads snapped up and turned to the counselor. _Crap! This is either really serious or they are in big time trouble._ "Sure." Scott gathered his things as well and the two left the class together, full of anxiety. He had to pulled on Stiles a little but Scott managed to get them to the hallway.

As soon as they were in the hallway Stiles just couldn't take it anymore. "What's going on? What happened? I don't think we've done anything lately. I really don't remember setting any pranks or anything. Like, I'm sure we could talk about this after class or…"

"Stiles, you aren't in any trouble. It's your father." The principle said it with a stern voice as he ignored the look of shock, pain, worry, and just pure panic that came over Stiles and just kept walking.

But Stiles couldn't keep walking. His legs seemed to dysfunction. His dad, there was something wrong with his dad. _Oh God, I can't lose both my parents. Not both of them. No, no, he has to be okay. He can't be dead. He can't be…_ His chest began to tighten, his breathing became difficult, and his knees started to give way. His worst nightmare had become reality. He couldn't move other than to shake.

A warm hand on his shoulder pulled Stiles away from his thoughts and his panic. "It will be okay Stiles. We don't know what happened. Come on." Scott gave Stiles' shoulder a little push as he took on some of Stiles' weight sensing the boy couldn't walk on his own and they were moving again. "Who knows, maybe he just locked himself out of the house again and he needs your key?" They both knew that wasn't the case but it was enough to get Stiles' legs to move properly without his knees shaking as if they might give out at any second. "It will be okay." Scott just kept using that undying, endless supply of hope he always seemed to have. "I'm right here." His words kept the panic at bay.

When they got to the office there was one of the deputies Stiles new standing in the office with a grim look on his face. "Stiles." He turned and straightened up as soon as the boys walked in. "Stiles, your dad is at the hospital. I'm going to drive you there. Oh," The man in uniform noticed the boy standing next to Stiles. "Hey Scott, are you coming with us?"

Scott nodded. "Yeah, school is no fun without Stiles anyways." He smiled and the three of them left without another word. It frustrated Stiles that no one was telling him what happened to his dad. He just wanted to know what happened. The whole ride there his knee bounced uncontrollably and he had to bite his nails just to keep from spewing words.

When they arrived, Melissa was there waiting for them. "Hey, Stiles, your dad is with the doctor right now." She gave the kid a hug, seeing he was upset.

Stiles felt like he was vibrating. "What's wrong with him?" He could feel the panic starting to boil back up. He needed to see his dad before he had a panic attack. He needed to know what happened.

Melissa pulled back away from the boy. "No one told you?" The boy shook his head in answer. "He was in a car accident. They think he has some broken ribs, a concussion, and will need some stitches but he's okay. For a second they were worried about internal bleeding but the scans came back clean. He's okay Stiles." She gave a comforting smile.

Stiles nodded, trying to keep himself together. "What caused the accident?" He could feel his chest tighten as his breathing started to speed up. His limps were feeling heavier and heavier.

The deputy standing behind them put his hand on Stiles' shoulder. "Don't worry about that, Stiles. Everything will be taken care of. Just focus on your father right now."

"That's what I'm trying to do." Stiles shrugged away from the deputy's hand. "What happened? Was it a normal car accident? Was it a car chase? He was hurt on the job and you came to pick me up from school. There's something more to it. What happened?" Stiles tried to ignore the way he was jumping out of his skin. He wished he could turn his jumpiness off. He wished his mind would stop running a mile a second. He just wanted it to stop so he could focus on his dad. It only added to the panic.

The deputy cleared his throat. "Look, your dad doesn't want you involved in this. He's afraid if you know too much you'll get yourself into trouble. And honestly, knowing your past, I have to agree with him. So just don't worry about it, kid. Just sit here and be there for your dad. He'll be glad to see you." The officer gave some cheesy smile and patted Stiles on the shoulder.

With that the panic was back with vengeances. Stiles took a step back. He needed to know what happened. He needed some kind of control. If he had that control then maybe…but no one understood that. No they just thought he was some stupid kid who couldn't handle it. He opened his mouth to say something but he couldn't. _Dang it Stiles, you can't have a panic attack now! Your dad needs you._ His negative thoughts only made the panic worse.

Before anyone could notice or say anything else Scott, who had almost been forgotten, took a step forward. He wrapped an arm around Stiles' shoulders. "We aren't seven anymore. I think we can handle a little bit of information. Stiles deserves to know what happened to his dad." His voice was stern, so unlike the happy go lucky Scott most people knew. "So tell us what happened while we wait for the doctors to let us see the sheriff. Or we will use a particular set of skills we have acquired over the years to figure it out ourselves." Everyone just kind of stared at the boy.

Almost immediately the panic vanished. Stiles looked at Scott and smiled. He had said everything Stiles needed to say. It was like they were telepathic. "What he said." Stiles stood a little straighter but still a little shaky.

"Just go sit in the waiting room." The officer ran a hand over his face before walking away with Nurse McCall.

Before the panic could force itself back on Stiles he turned to his friend. "Were you serious about figuring it out for ourselves?" His eyes were full of hope and desperation. He needed this more than anyone could know, okay well Scott knows.

Which is why Scott smiled and nodded. "Yeah, come on, you can use the nurse's computer to hack into the police database right?" Scott looked hopefully at his friend, he wanted to help but he didn't want to chance leaving the hospital. Stiles nodded a response and the two took off.

Half an hour later they had read the incident report on the whole thing. The sheriff had arrested a guy's brother for drugs. Apparently it was a family business and now the sheriff has been threatened. One of the men who work for the brother ran the sheriff off the road as a warning. But they made it clear that if they didn't release the other brother, there would be fatal consequences.

It helped to have the truth but Stiles couldn't stop looking at the picture of warning slashed into the side of his dad's car. "I knew this was always a possibility. People have threatened him before, you know. But I never took them seriously. He never took them seriously. My dad always said it was part of the job and I shouldn't worry about it. But this…they really hurt him Scott. What if they try it again and something worse…What if he…" Stiles couldn't say it. He couldn't vocalize his worse fear. _I can't lose him too._ "Maybe we…"

"No, Stiles, I know where you're going with this and no. We are going to leave it to the police for this one. Like I said earlier, we aren't little kids anymore. Let's just go see how your dad is doing. Maybe they are all done stitching him up and we can see him." Scott put and hand in his friend's shoulder and waited for him to exit out of everything before they walked down the hallway together.

When they entered the hospital room the nurse was putting back the blanket, obviously just finishing the last bandage. Stiles couldn't believe how broken his dad looked. He was so used to seeing him as superman, the indestructible cop. But now he was lying in a hospital bed looking slightly pale with stitches and bandages. "Hey kiddo." He smiled but Stiles knew the truth.

Unable to hold it in, forever the blabber mouth, Stiles just went for it. "So someone threatened your life?" Stiles went over to the bed and started to pick at the blanket lying over his dad.

"Stiles…"

"I thought you said they were never serious. I thought you said that you could take care of yourself. I was okay with the Santa lie but this is just…" Stiles looked up at his dad. "I can't lose you too Dad." He let his dad pull him into a hug.

The sheriff ran his hand through his kid's hair. "Come on Stiles, you use your unrelenting sarcasm in every situation. Use it here." He smiled as he pulled away. "Never let them know they've gotten to you. Once fear of them controls you that is when they win. So let me hear some joke or something about these idiots, Stiles."

Stiles smiled and sat on the side of the bed and motioned for Scott to sit in the chair by the bed. The three sat in silence for a while before Stiles smiled. "So when is Brother's Grimm going to attack again? Should I put a line of tires around your car to act as bumpers? Oh or maybe Scott and I can create a great homemade security system. I mean, I have learned a few things in physics…"

"Jesus Stiles…" There sheriff ran a hand over his face as Stiles and Scott began to run through different at-home defenses they could make. Maybe it was the painkillers he was on but the sheriff just couldn't bring himself to care or worry, so he laughed at the boys.

/This was requested but I felt like after that episode of season 5 Stiles has dealt with people threatening his father before because of how he handled it. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed. Also, I won't be around much internet until Thursday and I'll be pretty busy until then with moving and everything so the next update might be a day or two late. But keep sending requests please :) And thank you for all of the compliments I have gotten on this story, they mean the world to me! Anywho, thank you so much for reading, review pretty please, and have a fantastic day!


	26. Chapter 26: Butting Heads

**Butting Heads**

Most days Scott and Stiles were inseparable. They could almost be mistaken as the same person to those who didn't know them well, like the teachers who thought of them as one unit. However, there were those dark days when they couldn't stand in the same room. It was a day like that that lead to their current predicament. The two boys sat only three feet from each other in the main office outside of the principal's office, trying so hard not to look at one another. The tension could be felt by everyone, it even made the poor secretary uncomfortable enough to leave for her "afternoon coffee break."

The two were radiating with unjustifiable anger, both too stubborn to end this ridiculous daily feud that lead to their getting into trouble. Most of the time sitting in the principal's office was tough but okay because they were there together, partners in crime who couldn't stop looking over at each other maybe even laughing at each other occasionally. But today they just kept their eyes far from the other's face, staring at the walls as if they were five year olds in time-out.

Finally their parents came out of the office, both looking a little concerned and confused and the principal just looking a little lost. None of them knew how to punish the boys. The worst punishment was to keep them away from each other but today they seemed as though they might like that and that fact was painful to everyone. "Stiles, Scott, you can go home for the rest of the day."

Stiles spun in his chair to face the principal who had broken the tense silence. "What? You're sending me home? It wasn't even my fault! I know what chemicals can and can't be mixed together. It's not my fault Mr. Harris gave me a terrible lab partner." He shot a quick glare to Scott.

"Oh, so it's my fault?" Scott's voice seemed to have a little less bite but plenty of anger and hurt in it. "If I'm so dumb then maybe you should have been paying more attention instead of…"

"Boys." The sheriff spoke up, rubbing his forefinger and thumb into his closed eyes. "Stop acting like children." He looked over at Melissa who sighed. "Alright, Stiles, come on I'll drop you off at home before I go back to work." He nodded towards the door before walking out of the office.

The lanky teen stood up angrily and grabbed his backpack a little clumsily before stalking out after his father. Scott watched with an as angry a scowl as he could muster but the look dropped as soon as the other boy left the room and then he turned to his mom. "Can we just go home and not talk about this?" He didn't want to confess to his mom that this was one of the most stupid fights he'd ever had and was probably mostly at fault. He knew she would knock him and Stiles upside the head.

Melissa smiled sweetly before putting a hand on her son's shoulder after he stood up. "Oh Scott, you should know me better by now. I have to go into work in two hours. You have that much time to explain to me what could possibly have happen between you and your best friend to cause a minor explosion in the chemistry room." She gave her son a quick squeeze before leading him to the car.

As Melissa's interrogation began, Scott sank into the seat of the car, hoping to just disappear.

A few blocks away Stiles was doing the same thing. "Dad, I told you I don't want to talk about it." Stiles said for the third time. He had never felt like the drive between the school and his house had ever been this long before. "Just let it go, please."

"No, Scott is your best friend. You two hardly ever fight. I can barely think of the last time you two fought. Usually when you do fight it's over quickly and over something stupid. But this time you caused damage to public property. And you can bet that chemistry teacher is going to have a pretty low opinion of you from now on." The sheriff shook his head. "Just tell me what it is Stiles, maybe I can help."

A little bit of aggression and frustration was still in Stiles system from earlier. "Oh really?" The words started pouring from his mouth before he could stop them. "You could help me? Like you used to help me with homework as a kid? No, that was one of your deputies. Or maybe how you said you would help me with cleaning the garage last weekend? Oh no, I did that alone because you had to work overtime again." Stiles wanted to take it back as soon as he said it but hey, teenage angst.

The sheriff was shocked to silence. This wasn't like Stiles. Stiles didn't bite off his dad's head for work. The kid always respected what he did. And ever since his mom died, Stiles understood that the sheriff had to work more. It was like the sheriff had lucked out on the attitude thing. But now it was coming back to bite him in the ass. "Stiles…"

"Never mind, just forget it Dad. I'm sorry I said anything. I'm just tired, okay?" Stiles jumped out of the car as soon as it came to a stop and ran into the house, trying to force himself out of the terrible mood he'd been put into.

After a lengthy talk with his mom Scott sat in his room, lying on his bed throwing a ball up into the air trying to think of a way to fix this mistake but coming up with nothing. Instead, Scott looked over at all of the school work he had yet to complete and started working. And for the first time in Scott's life, he worked all afternoon on his homework, getting completely caught up with his classes, and fell asleep on his floor over a textbook, his mind far from the incident with Stiles.

Three days…three days the two boys didn't talk to each other. Both had taken up weird habits in replace of their best friend, their extra shadow. Stiles had started researching the weirdest things just to occupy his time, such as how to drive a manual transmission, circumcision, and even a few random things involving the supernatural…don't judge, it was like a snowball effect on Google, even he wasn't sure how it happened. Then there was Scott who was actually keeping up with school for once, working out more, and even considering more sports. On the second day of silence he went to the store and bought a baseball bat. He never really liked the sport but it was something to do and if it didn't work out then he could also use it as home-defense (as his skeptical mother told him). But not a word was exchanged between the two, just stolen glances when one thought the other wasn't looking.

So what caused this silence? Not even the boys knew. But there is a truth in the thought that we take out our frustrations on the ones we love most, the ones who know and trust most, the ones we know will always forgive us no matter what. And this is what Stiles and Scott were doing to each other. The stress and frustration of life had engulfed them fully and started to choke them. You see, Scott was beginning to understand the stress of having a job, school, and sports (because this high school coach demanded the lacrosse players, even the potential players and freshman, be on the cross country team at the start of the year) all at the same time. And Scott had never been one talented with time management. And Stiles was worrying more than ever about his dad (there had been more threats against his life since the car accident), had managed to piss off enough of the teachers already at school, and couldn't stop thinking about his mom missing out on all of the high school firsts. It wasn't fair.

Both needed to de-stress. Both were on edge. And both had had an argument with their parents the morning of the explosion (Stiles and sheriff argued about yet another detention for behavioral issues while Scott and Melissa argued about a failed test she had to sign for Scott). By the time chemistry came around, they were tightly wound. A snide comment from Jackson, an impossible lab, a bump of the elbow, some spilled chemicals, and BOOM! An explosion ripped through the classroom and the boys were instantly yelling at each other as soon as the smoke settled. Teenage hormones…

Now the two weren't sure how to make it better. Neither knew what to apologize for. This was so unlike any of their other fights. They never fought over nothing, at least nothing that couldn't be solved by a pizza and a few video games…

And that's why Stiles found himself standing in front of Scott's door with a pizza and video game in his hands, praying this would work because he couldn't stand not having his friend. The door opened before he could even knock with Scott almost running out the door with a video game and money in his hand. "Oh, Stiles, I was just about to go pick up some pizza and go to your house." Scott said after the two had collided and landed awkwardly on the ground with pizza covering them. The two just sat there looking at each other for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter and detangling from each other. They pulled each other up and went to get the second pizza together.

After getting the pizza the two sat in Scott's room and started playing video games. As they played Stiles couldn't help but notice the new addition to his friend's room. "Dude, why do you have a baseball bat? You're not going to make us join another sport are you? Cross country and lacrosse are enough for me, thanks."

Scott laughed. "Home defense man."

"Yeah whatever." Stiles shook his head. "You're not the one with regular patrols coming to their house." He didn't mean to say it so seriously, but it just came out. It was a concern he had been holding in for a while.

And as if they hadn't had any time off their friendship Scott nudged his friend's shoulder with his own, sensing Stiles' genuine worry. "Don't worry, man, your dad will catch the guy. Everything is going to be okay."

Stiles nodded, sure his friend was right but it was nice to finally hear out loud from someone else. "So what's been going on with you?" And like that the two finally talked like they should have days ago as they fought zombies in their game and made plenty of fake bloodshed.

When Melissa came home she heard two laughing voices coming from her son's room. She went upstairs to see two empty pizza boxes made into little huts and the boys pushing each other as they played some game. "So you two made up?"

"We were fighting?" Scott asked, not taking his eyes off the TV screen.

"Yeah, remember, for like three days." Stiles nudged Scott as he tried to get some advantage in the game.

Melissa let her jaw drop. "And the chemistry incident?"

"Totally Jackson's fault." Stiles said simply, letting his tongue hang out of his mouth as he moved his controller around more than needed.

The nurse shook her head. "Whatever, at least you're talking again." She sighed before walking off, coming to terms with the knowledge that she would never understand those two.

The boys looked over at each other and laughed. "So, how are we going to get Jackson back?"

With all the skill of a regular criminal, Stiles switched out the beakers without anyone's notice well except for Scott who was watching with anticipation. "Are you sure this will work?" Scott asked his best friend as soon as Stiles sat back down.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah I'm sure." He noted the doubtful look from Scott. "I double checked by looking over Lydia's shoulder at her notes. I totally got this right, I'm a genius chemist. And this teacher wants to fail me." Stiles scoffed at the absurdity. "Jackson won't see it coming."

"Won't see what coming?" The horrible chemistry teacher asked, leaning between the two friends' heads, just before a slight explosion came from two tables up and Jackson began a trail of cuss words trying to wipe himself off in a worry that whatever got all over him might be dangerous. He was even about to run over to the chemical shower in a completely embarrassing panic when the teacher stopped him. "Stilinski, McCall, to the office." He began to follow the boys out to the hallway. "I'm glad the two of you worked out whatever issue was going on between you but just because you stopped taking out your teenage emotional melt downs on each other doesn't mean you can take it out collectively on students in my class." Then he shut his door to deal with Jackson who was freaking out and swearing revenge.

Stiles shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever." The two made the trudge to the principal's office, this time sending each other secret humorous smiles instead of avoiding eye contact. Things had balanced out once again. Even if they had yet to solve any of their problems the two had each other and that's all that really mattered.

/I am so sincerely sorry for the long wait! Life has been really busy since coming back to school. Between the time crunch and other stories I'm writing I've kind of hit a wall with this story. It was a struggle to write even this, so if you guys have any ideas for stories please let me know and I'll try to write something fairly soonish. The updates for this story will probably so down, because of school and this bit of writers block, but it won't stop I promise. Anyways, I hope you guys liked the new addition, it was a combination of a few requests I hope that's okay. Thanks for reading, please review (it keeps me motivated), and have a great day!


	27. Chapter 27: False Adventure

**False Adventure**

It was just past midnight and the boys laid in awkward positions in Stiles' room after falling asleep playing video games. It was a normal night. Until a loud crash from down stairs made the boys jump from their light sleep. "What was that?" Stiles managed to slur out in his sleep-state.

Scott, who had always been better at waking up, went to the door to listen and heard a commotion coming from downstairs. "Stiles I think someone's in the house. That's not your dad's footsteps and he wouldn't have to break something to get in." He turned to his friend, now fully awake, with a worried expression on his face. Lowering his voice to a whisper and closing the door Scott went back to Stiles' bed. "Do you have like a baseball bat or something we could use for defense?"

Stiles squinted his eyes at Scott in a glare. "Why would I have a bat? I don't play baseball." Stiles pulled out his phone as he moved his desk chair to the door pushing it under the door knob. "Hey, dad, this is Stiles…"

"Stiles? What are you still doing up? Shouldn't you be in bed? You have school tomorrow." The sheriff closed the manila folder he was looking through to focus on his son.

"Um, yeah, I was totally doing that sleeping thing until there was this loud crash and I realized there was someone in the house with me besides Scott. You know, the type of someone who is unwelcomed and possibly armed?" Stiles started to bite at his nails, feeling nervous but trying to remain somewhat calm with Scott staring at him.

The sheriff stood up, grabbing his gun. "We're on our way, get into your closet with Scott and stay there until I'm there. Don't come out for anyone but me or one of the deputies, do you understand me? I don't want you confronting them." He motioned to some of the other officers as he walked through the office and out to his squad car.

"Come on dad, shouldn't I be defending myself in some way? I mean if that blonde squirt can defend himself against robbers in Home Alone shouldn't the sheriff's son be able to do the same thing? And that kid was in New York, this is Beacon Hills, come on." Stiles knew he was rambling a bit but he couldn't help himself, it happened when he was nervous. "You have an extra gun hidden in your room. What if I just…"

"Stiles no." The sheriff cut him off. "Just stay safe. We will be there in just a few minutes…"

Before Stiles could response or the sheriff could continue his rant into the phone for Stiles to be safe there was another crash downstairs. Stiles backed away from the door. "So, what do I do if they figure out where we are and start knocking on my bedroom door then dad? Should I just tell them not on the hair by my chinny-chin-chin?"

"Stiles." Sheriff found no humor in the situation. "We're on our way." He started driving faster, hoping to god he got there in time to keep his sons safe.

Yet another crash, sounding like the dirty plates Stiles forgot to clean and left on the sink, echoed through the house. Scott stood up and grabbed his friend by the arm. "Come on, you have to have something in your room that we can use to defend ourselves."

Stiles looked around and smiled. "Why fight Scott? Don't you know it's better to avoid the problem than it is to face it?" Stiles kept his voice very low before walking over to his window and quietly opening it. "We're going to crawl out and shimmy down. Then we can hide out in the woods or something until my dad gets here with back up, and lots of guns." Stiles was already putting one foot out the window, proud of his plan.

"Shimmy down? Stiles we're on the second floor!" Scott let out in a harsh whisper seriously doubting Stiles' planning abilities but he didn't have another option so he just followed in Stiles' footsteps, carefully crawling down the side of the house.

It almost worked too until Stiles lost his footing and fell the last six feet landing awkwardly on his ankle and breaking his cell phone, trying so hard not to scream or make any more noise to alert the intruder of their whereabouts. "Dang it…" Stiles gripped his ankle as Scott jumped down off the house, only slightly more gracefully, and went to crouch beside him. "I think I twisted my ankle."

"Well you made a pretty loud thump falling so we don't have time to look at it, let's go." Scott put one of Stiles' arms around his shoulders and the two headed straight for the woods.

An hour later Stiles leaned against a tree. "Well this is just fan-freaking-tastic!" He groaned in frustration. "We're lost, how the heck did we get lost? We should know the woods better than this! And where is my dad? Shouldn't he have a search party out looking for me or something?" Stiles slid down the tree to the ground. "My ankle hurts. You know, if you had just grabbed your phone when we escaped my house we wouldn't be in his situation."

Scott sat down next to his friend. "I'm sorry." He looked down at the swelling ankle. "That's really starting to look bad. Maybe we should just start yelling?"

"Dude, that's like horror movie rule number one. You never just call out. We don't know who else is in the woods. For all we know the crazy killers who were after us in my house are out here trying to run away from the cops. Maybe that's why Dad hasn't gotten to us, he's too busy chasing the guy who was in the house." Stiles flailed his arms about as he spoke. "No, we just keep walking until we find something familiar or…" Stiles was cut off by the distant sound of barking and howling. "Or until the police dogs find us." He smiled and slumped back against the tree.

Scott stood up and called to the cops bring the sheriff towards the boys. "Thank god, what the hell are you two doing out here? What were you thinking?" He noticed his son holding his ankle. "What happened to you?"

As Scott helped Stiles stand the lanky sheriff's son gave an over-exaggerated explanation of their daring escape. "It was a close call dad. We're lucky we're alive really. I know, I know, you're overcome with fatherly pride because of my smart thinking and…" Stiles didn't finish, his father cut him off with a laugh and a few deputies joining in with him. "What are you laughing at? What if they were the guys who put a hit out on you and they were trying to get to you by hurting me?"

"How many intruders did you say you fought off?" The sheriff tried to keep a straight face. "Stiles, there weren't any intruders. And if you'd listen to me you would know we caught the guys threatening me yesterday. There is no longer any threat. There weren't any killers in our house."

"Yes there were!" Stiles almost fell over trying to make his point.

Scott kept a hold on his friend so he wouldn't fall over and hurt himself any further. "Sheriff, I heard it too, there was someone in the house. It sounded like they were tearing the place apart."

Again the sheriff laughed. "Yeah, there was someone in the house but there weren't any intruders." He had to keep himself from laughing any further at the look on the teenagers' faces. "_Somebody_ must have forgotten to close the garage door all the way when they took the trash out and a few raccoons got into the kitchen looking for food. They broke some plates but didn't do too much damage. You two really jumped out the window because of raccoons? Stiles why didn't you go to a neighbor's house if you thought it was an intruder? I thought I taught you better than that."

Unable to think of any witty response Stiles stood there with his mouth hanging open. "A raccoon, freaking raccoons?!" He almost fell over. "I hurt my ankle because of raccoons." He turned to look at Scott. "When we're old men with wives and children we're leaving out the raccoon when we retell this story. There were armed men in my house."

Scott laughed. "Come on Stiles, we should have known better. Nothing ever happens in Beacon Hills."

Shaking his head, Stiles scoffed. "Whatever, Scott. Tomorrow I'm going to buy a map from the wildlife rangers or something and we're going to memorize the woods in Beacon Hills. We'll never get lost out here again, I swear."

"Come on let's go get your ankle checked out." And the two walked off, keeping each other supported after a night of false adventure.

/Sorry it's been so long! It's hard to stay motivated with little free time. Let my know what you think and if you have any ideas for future chapters. Thanks for reading, please review, and have a great day!


	28. Chapter 28: Weak

**Weak**

Sometimes Scott felt utterly weak, and it wasn't because of his asthma. There were days that it didn't bother Scott, days where he could brush it off like Stiles always seemed to do. But today wasn't one of those days. He'd seen the group of punks who usually beat up on him annoying some poor new kid. Scott just told them to stop, he didn't think they'd turn on him and of course the second they did the new kid ran away. It was the usual stuff, Scott's a loser, ugly, will never get a girl but then, right before the leader of the pack punched him, he made a comment about Scott's dad. And that's what did it. That's what made him feel so weak and pathetic.

A few hours later Stiles found Scott sitting in an empty hallway holding a bruised eye, trying not to cry because he didn't need to give anyone anymore reasons to make fun of him, to see him as weak. "Hey Scotty, what's up? We're going to be late to practice if you don't get your butt in gear." He nudged his friend and sat down next to him. "Come on, bro, what's wrong?"

"EJ called me a bastard. He said my dad left because I wasn't his." Scott ran a hand over his face. "I know he's wrong but...why...I mean, never mind."

Stiles looked at his friend carefully, knowing how sensitive the subject at hand was. "Your dad was weak. He drank too much." For a second Stiles considered telling Scott the truth, telling him that his dad got drunk and pushed him down the stairs so Melissa finally told him to leave. But Stiles knew that would only hurt him even more. "He was weak like EJ and all those idiots are weak. But your mom, she's strong, she raised you alone. And she raised you to be strong." Stiles stood up. "So, be strong and let's go to practice. We will deal will those asshats later, I promise."

Scott took Stiles' outstretched hand and allowed himself to be pulled up. "I don't want to pull some awful prank on them that's bound to go wrong and land us in the principal's office again. My mom is still pretty pissed about the whole Jackson and chemistry explosion thing."

"Oh yee of little faith." Stiles smiled as he put an arm around Scott's shoulders and they walked to practice, a plan formulating in his mind already. The rest of the day Scott didn't feel so weak, even if he was shoved and knocked down in practice, at least he had Stiles by his side.

It was a week later, Stiles was getting ready to head to the locker room when he felt a hand on his shoulder and someone shoved him into the lockers. "Well that's not very nice, didn't you dad teach you any manners? Oh wait, he learned his manners in prison so I guess that's about right." Stiles let out against the cold lockers knowing EJ was the one holding him against the metal.

"Sarcasm isn't polite either, you know. Maybe your mom should wash that mouth out with soap. Oh wait, she can't." EJ's harsh words felt more like lashes than whispers against Stiles' ear. "Now, that I have your attention, you're going to shut it and listen. I don't appreciate a police car showing up at my house with a search warrant and I really don't appreciate them causing a scene at school when they don't find what they are looking for at my house. I know it was you who sent in the anonymous tip about the steroids Stiles. And if my drug test comes back positive Stilinski, you're going to take one hell of a beating." He shoved Stiles further into the locker before letting go. "Do you understand?"

Stiles wiped the front of his shirt to rid it of the wrinkles. "Oh I understand. I understand that you're so weak you have to pick on the lanky guy made of nothing but 147 pounds of skin and bones or the poor kid with puppy eyes and asthma. But I also understand how the law works. I mean, are you stupid too? You will be gone from school if that test comes back positive. You won't be coming back anytime soon and I have a feeling you will be forced into a rehab in order to avoid serious punishment. Especially if they find out you've been giving it to other kids. So, save your threats for someone else." Stiles felt pretty accomplished and was ready to walk away when a fist flew into his face.

Walking to stand over Stiles, who had fallen from the impact, EJ put on a mad smile and cracked his knuckles. "Well, if that's the case then I guess I'll just have to beat the crap out of you now."

"I talk too much." Stiles groaned before sliding on the linoleum to avoid a flying foot coming for his side then jumped up and started running, praying to any god out there that he didn't trip or flail and wind up EJ's last victim at this school. As Stiles ran through the empty halls and out to the parking lot, it was the first time he had ever been happy that Scott forced him to join lacrosse. Even if he still wasn't the fastest he never could have run even this much before now.

And as Stiles rounded the last corner to the parking lot he saw that wonderful mop of dark hair he knew and loved. "SCOTT!" He couldn't believe it, his friend should be at practice but here he was. "Scott we gotta go!" He came to a rough stop by the bikes. "What are you doing here?"

"I had an asthma attack so coach told me to just go home. Mom said she would pick me up so I wouldn't have to ride my bike. What's going on? Why are you out of breath…is that EJ?" Scott noticed the bully running out of the building. "Oh god, Stiles, what did you do?"

Stiles threw his friend a confused and offended look as he tried to catch his breath. "He's the bully and you ask me what I did? Thanks Scott. But we really should probably run for our lives because I might have been the one who sent in an anonymous tip about his steroid habit…so."

"Oh look, how cute, the lovebirds are together again." EJ smiled as he slowed his pace, coming up next to the boys. "Let me guess Stiles, you finally turned me in because I upset your boyfriend here. What, he can't handle a few daddy jokes? You two are pathetic. I'm going to enjoy beating the crap out of you both."

A car horn honked before the bully could take another step further and Melissa called out to the boys. "I've never been lucky a day in my life, I guess it's never too late to start." Stiles laughed in relief. "It was nice having this little chat EJ, I can't wait to see how orange looks on you. Maybe they will have you write apology letters to all those you hurt, you know, as part of your rehabilitation. But until then, I really don't want to talk." Stiles smiled and winked before walking away into the safety of Melissa's car. "I have never been happier to see you Melissa, I could almost kiss you!"

Melissa rolled her eyes as the boys got in. "You just keep getting weirder, don't you Stiles?" She laughed a little until she caught a glimpse of Stiles' face in her rearview mirror and then she turned around with worry written all over her face. "Is that a bruise? Did someone hit you?"

With both McCall's staring at him in the backseat Stiles shrank down a bit. "Um, maybe, but the important thing is that I only got hit once, right?" He smiled.

Melissa rolled her eyes again before driving off, not even questioning that Stiles wasn't going to practice. Scott stayed turned around though. "So, you did that for me?" His voice was low even though he was sure his mom could still hear. "He's bothered us for years Stiles. Why now?"

"No one should make you feel weak." Stiles just shrugged.

Smiling Scott turned back around but not before saying, "Thanks, but a little too over the top. Maybe next time we can just trap the bully in the school for a night. You know, scare them instead of jail them. Pranking is more our thing anyways."

/Tada! I didn't take forever this time! I'm proud of myself! I'm not sure about the next chapter, seeing as mid-term is coming up so sorry but hey I got this up. I have half an idea for next chapter so maybe I can get it out before life gets too crazy but still let me know if you want to see anything. Until next time: thanks for reading, please review, and have a great week!


	29. Chapter 29: Forgotten Memory

**Forgotten Memory**

It was a scrimmage, the upperclassmen versus the lowerclassmen, a lacrosse tradition and the only time Stiles had a chance at playing on the field. He was excited, even if he had put down the sport over and over. He wanted to play, even if it was only against his own team. It didn't hurt that he got out of half his classes for it too. The game took place after lunch and the whole school watched, almost like a school spirit pep-rally before the start of the season.

Stiles, just like off the field, was snarky and mouthy, the adrenaline just made it worse. "Oh come on Tyler, are you going to just let Jackson score on you like that? The kid is a freshman!" Stiles laughed, the only time he'd cheer Jackson on.

"Stiles, maybe you should tone it down." Scott whispered as they made their way back to starting position after Jackson's goal. "I think they're starting to plan something against you." He looked at the group of seniors huddling together and looking at Stiles over their shoulders.

The comment only made Stiles chuckle more. "I don't have to worry about anything! Those guys can't even tackle Greenburg!" Stiles yelled over to the seniors then turned to Scott. "Come on buddy, it's just a game. I don't get to play that often, let me have my fun." Stiles started jumping back and forth on his feet. "Hey Tyler, I'll see you on the bench next week!" He giggled. "This is fun."

"You know, you say those things on the bench and no one cares but saying them on the field…Stiles you're going to get hurt." Scott shook his head. "It wouldn't surprise me if one day a group of kids beat you up after a game because of your big mouth."

Again Stiles just shrugged. "It's just a scrimmage, they'll get over it." The whistle blew and the play started. "Hey…" Before Stiles could even start his latest comment three seniors and a junior rush at him, taking turns knocking him with their sticks before he took a violent thumb to the ground, smacking his head against one of the seniors on his way down. "Wha…"

Seeing his concerns become true Scott rushed to his best friend, sliding to the ground. "Stiles!" His voice was the last thing Stiles heard before blacking out.

The sheriff got the call that his son was taken to the hospital and his heart dropped. It felt like he couldn't breathe again until he saw Melissa and she told him it was a concussion and he was fine, nothing life-threatening. But as he sat in the hospital room, waiting for Stiles to come back from his CAT scan his mind wandered to the last time Stiles got a concussion…

_His head was hung low between his knees, buried in his hands. Stilinski couldn't believe what had just happened. He knew what his wife's disease could do. He had read all the books and articles. He talked to all the doctors. He was prepared. He thought he was prepared. He had seen her go through fugue states before. But nothing could have prepared him for this. Nothing could make this better. His wife attacked Stiles, she attacked their boy. _

_Even with all the confusion, on her good days she always made sure to go pick him up from school. Even with the night terrors, speech difficulties, and other countless awful symptoms she was always a mom, Stiles' mom. But this last fugue state had been different. She wasn't a mom. She was insane. It was the first time Stilinski had even thought his wife was insane, when she accused their son of being out to get her and then attacking him. What was worse, Stiles was going to have to live with that._

_Once he managed to pull his frantic wife off the boy, he noticed Stiles wasn't moving. For a moment he feared she might have killed him, but the nurses assured him he'd only hit his head when he fell. He might have a concussion but he'd be fine. He'd be fine. How could a kid be fine after something like that? _

_Stilinski looked up as the nurses wheeled a slightly disoriented Stiles back into the room. "Dad? What happened? No one will tell me what happened. They say they've already told me but…" Stiles stopped, seeing how upset his dad was. "Dad, what happened? Is mom okay?" He face was full of worry. That's when the sheriff realized he didn't remember. His mom attacked him and he was asking if she was okay. This horrible, traumatic event…he didn't remember._

_"Stiles, what's the last thing you remember?" The sheriff sat down on the chair next to the hospital bed as the nurses left once settling Stiles down._

_Stiles shrugged, seeming even younger than he was. "I don't know, maybe walking down the hall? I think I was following mom…no, that doesn't make sense; I must have been going to see her. She's okay, isn't she?" _

_Sheriff Stilinski smiled, trying not to seem sad. "She's fine. I think she's finally come out of her fugue state. We'll get to take her home before we take you home. They want you to stay overnight because of the concussion. But you're both fine." He ran a hand through Stiles' hair. "I think Scott is even on his way to come see you."_

_"Dad…how did I get a concussion from walking down the hallway?" _

_How could Stilinski tell his son the truth? Maybe he didn't have to. Maybe lying was okay as long as it kept his family safe. He never told his wife how bad she got during her fugue states. He never let her see the bills. Sometimes lying was protecting. "I don't know Stiles, how exactly does one manage to get a concussion just from walking down the hallway? Something about flailing around to miss a crash cart and then something with a vending machine? Really a vending machine Stiles? Who has an incident with a vending machine?" He shook his head, proud of his little fib. It sounded just like Stiles._

_The boy ran a hand over his buzz cut sheepishly. "Sorry, but I mean those things aren't very secure. It's really a problem the hospital should look into." He smiled, he believed it. But who wouldn't believe their dad who was the sheriff? _

_Before the sheriff could feel anymore guilt the door flew open and Scott came running in. "Stiles! Hey my mom told me…"_

_"Yeah, I know, what idiot has a fight with a vending machine and loses. No need to make fun of me Scott." Stiles rolled his eyes._

_"What?" Scott looked utterly confused. The sheriff just had to look at the small boy with a crooked jaw, a silent plea, and he knew. "Geez, Stiles, really?" And the secret was safe._

John looked up as an out-of-it Stiles was pushed into the room with his dirty jersey on. "How is he?" He asked Melissa who was helping the lanky teen into the bed.

"He's fine. Give it a few more hours and I'm sure he'll come around again. For now he's just asking question after question. And Scott is in the waiting room freaking out by the way. I guess Stiles had the air knocked out of him and Scott thought they killed him." Melissa laughed.

Stilinski just smiled. "You can tell him he can come back here. I'm sure Stiles will be glad to see him when he comes to."

The next few hours consisted of Scott fussing over his friend, Stiles asking the same four questions over and over, and the sheriff remaining mostly quiet in the corner. But then Stiles seemed to get ahold of the answers. He was keeping them. He was understanding. And then he groaned, "God I'm an idiot. This is why benchwarmers never play. Talking the talk is much easier from the bench." He laughed. "But hey, at least I was tackled by people this time and not a vending machine." Him and Scott laughed but the sheriff stiffened.

"Yeah man, but hey, maybe Lydia saw it and felt bad for you." Scott laughed.

"If only…" The boys continued their high school talk completely unaware of the tear the sheriff shed.

/Wow I'm really proud of myself for getting this update done. So I know this chapter was a bit different, more through the sheriff's eyes and less about the friendship but it's my little explanation for Stiles' lost memory in season 5. I've got the next chapter started already and know what the chapter after that will be so hopefully I can update this more often. But yeah thanks for read, pretty please review, and have a great day!


	30. Chapter 30: ToRememberOrNotToRemember

**/Hey guys, quick note, so this is a continued chapter from the previous chapter. I know that Stiles memory was repressed, not forgotten. However, I wanted that background and I wanted to add something else to this story that I couldn't make long enough to be it's own chapter so I split the forgotten memory into two chapters. I now realize that might have been a mistake so I'm posting this now (an impressively quick update for me, who needs sleep anyways?) So yeah, I hope you guys like it.**

**To Remember or Not to Remember**

One girl for life: that was the kind of guy Stiles was and Lydia was his girl. However, he was also a teenage boy who couldn't help but notice how attractive the woman his dad hired to work dispatch was. And this notice-ment of attraction was what caused some…trouble. Plus his dad was acting a little strange, which didn't help. Ever since Stiles' concussion he'd been getting bits and pieces of the lacrosse game coming back to him. Every time something new popped into his head or dreams he'd make the comment to Scott, "I just wish I'd remember all the insults I made to piss them off so much so I can use them on the other teams for the rest of the season." Which would only get him an eye roll from his best friend in response.

Stiles looked at his phone as he waited for Scott to arrive at his house. He hadn't been allowed to play lacrosse for a week after the concussion, but today Scott and he were going to go down to the park and try it out. Before Stiles could enact his plan of calling the new dispatcher his bedroom door opened and Scott arrived with his dopy grin. "You ready to get back into it?"

"Yeah, totally, but hey, you should hit me real good or get an asthma attack while we're playing so I have an excuse to call the new dispatcher." He smiled as he put on his shoes and grabbed his bag.

"Didn't your dad get on to you yesterday because you called dispatch for help cooking the other day?" Scott cocked his head to the side, remembering the sheriff's exhausted rant the other night when he came home from a double shift. Scott didn't mention that he and Stiles had just been on the phone with dispatch right before the sheriff had walked through the door to ask when the sheriff would be home and if anyone had been murdered.

Stiles shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, but if I'm hurt or your having an attack then it's legitimate. She's trained to talk us through how to wrap an ankle, check for a concussion, or use an inhaler. She doesn't know that we don't need that information. And if she sends a squad car by then no big deal, it's not like they're doing much in Beacon Hills anyways."

The two walked out the door with their lacrosse stuff in tow. "True, nothing exciting ever happens here."

"Exactly! I'd be doing them a favor, really. What would the police department do without me?"

"Play solitaire and eat their donuts in peace." Scott laughed and they took off on their bikes. "So, do you remember all your insults from the game yet? I could just tell you some of them, you know."

Stiles reached over and pushed on his friend's bike. "No! That's cheating! Plus, you would ruin them somehow. You always ruin the joke." He sighed. "I'll get them. I always do." He said it without thinking, without remembering, because he honestly didn't remember this was an old conversation.

_The steady beep was starting to get on Stiles' last nerve. He just wanted to go home. His dad left an hour ago to take his mom back home. He should be with her. She always wanted to cuddle after a fugue state. She always apologized over and over even though she didn't remember anything she did when she wasn't herself, when she was her disease. Stiles wanted to be there to tell her it was okay, that it wasn't her fault and then tell her a joke to make it all better. Maybe he could tell her about getting a concussion, a vending machine story would make her laugh. He'd just have to remember it. "Hey Scott." He looked over at his tired friend who had promised to stay by his side the whole time._

_ Scott jumped in the seat. "I wasn't sleeping!" He shook his head and rubbed his eyes._

_ A small laugh escaped Stiles. "Yeah, okay, whatever, listen, do you think you could ask one of the nurses what exactly happened? Or maybe we could sneak into the security office and…"_

_ "Stiles, why do you care?"_

_ A shrug. "I want to tell my mom a funny story and this could be funny." Then a truth came over him that he didn't even know he was thinking. "And something just feels off about the story my dad told me. I don't like not knowing. I want to know." He watched as Scott shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "You know something." He knew his friend better than anyone. Even if Stiles hadn't picked up on his Dad's lie, he was picking up on Scott's. "Dad lied. What happened?"_

_ "Isn't that cheating?" Scott asked sheepishly, afraid of what he should do in this situation._

_ Anger flashed over Stiles. "Fine, I'll remember. I don't need your help; you're just a liar like my dad." Stiles felt the anger slipped just a bit because how was Stiles any different? He didn't tell Scott about why his dad really left. "Sorry." He mumbled the word, but he said it. "I just want to know. I hate it when my dad treats me like a kid. He hides the bills with the big red lettering on them, pretends I can't smell that it's not coffee in his cup at night, and that I don't hear him cry when mom is asleep. I just want to help. When mom…family takes care of each other, that's what mom always says."_

_ Scott felt his will falter. "You didn't fall in the hallway. You were on the roof." His voice was small. "You said the last thing you remember is walking down the hallway."_

_ "Yeah, I thought that maybe I was following my mom but…"_

_ "You were." Scott looked up hesitantly at his friend. "You followed her to the roof."_

_ Before Scott could say anything else, all the possibilities of what could happen on the roof ran through Stiles mind. What if his mom was up there to jump? Had his mom jumped? Did he watch his mom die and they were lying to him? Panic filled his chest. "My mom…is she…is…mom…"_

_ Scott put a calming hand on Stiles' shoulder. "Your mom is fine but it was bad this time. She was thinking really bad things…about you…" And that was all Stiles needed to clear the cobwebs._

_ Memories swam back to the front of Stiles' mind; His mom leaving the room because she was afraid of him, but he didn't want her to run away so he called out for help before running after her. He found her then slowly followed her, not wanting to scare her when she was in a state like that, all the way to the roof. It was when she got close to the edge that he began to really worry. But then his dad arrived. That should mean that everything is going to get better. Everything should have been better. But nothing could ever be okay after hearing his mom say, "He's trying to kill me." Why would she think that? He only ever wanted to help her. He knows it was a fugue state, it was a disease (just like his dad said) but…but she said it, she believed it. And then she attacked. "Stop looking at me like that!" Everything just seemed to blur as she ran towards him, he tried to hold his hands over his head when she hit at him and they fell to the ground before everything went black._

_ Ten years old and his mom thought that he was trying to kill her. Ten years old and his mom attacked him, gave him a concussion. Ten years old and his dad lied to protect his mom. Maybe his dad was right; maybe this memory is best for lying. "Scott, do you ever not want to remember something?" _

_ There was a slight tickling in the back of Scott's mind as his answered. "Yeah," was his answer even if he wasn't sure why (maybe something about a dog? But nothing was there). Scott just looked up at his friend, unsure of what to do._

_ "So, I ran into a vending machine. That's pretty stupid, huh?" His voice was vulnerable, straining to find the humor as he pushed the memory back away to the forgotten area of his brain._

_ Scott smiled. "Only you could do something like that Stiles. I'm sure your mom will laugh."_

Hanging up the phone Stiles shook his head. "She hung up on my again." He sighed and fell to the green grass. "How does she know you weren't having a respiratory failure?"

Scott laughed. "Probably because you've been my best friend for years, which everyone knows, so you would know how to take care of my asthma? Plus it doesn't help that I was laughing in the background the whole time. Or that you tried a few super cheesy pick-up lines on her. Who does that while their friend in having asthma attack?"

Sitting up Stiles narrowed his eyes in on his friend. "What are you saying? Are you saying that I don't have game? Because I have game. It's just that you know, she's on the phone and…oh my god…I remember!" Stiles stood up, jumping and pumping a fist into the air, "Jeff, that senior whose mom just got plastic surgery, tried that horrible play where he tried to fake a throw but then still got crushed! I remember what I told him to piss him off so much! I told him that fake was as good as his mom's tits." Stiles gave a goofy smile. More insults, some much worse than others, began to echo around in his head.

Scott laughed with Stiles, happy that he had caught up. "Glad you remembered this one."

"I think I also had one about the Native American tradition, how they would have been the team that was killed. Oh! And I started listing the most common and most severe injuries found in lacrosse…severe paralysis, death...I might have told one guy he smelt like peaches. Wow I was annoying. This is great stuff, I was on a roll!" Stiles started jumping back and forth on his feet. "Oh! And…" The list went on and on as they rode their bikes back to the house, remembering.

/I hope the split chapter was okay! I just really wanted to add in annoying the dispatcher, I loved that little two second bit in the second episode where Stiles is told that he's not supposed to call when she's on duty and I wanted to incorporate that somewhere but couldn't find a way to make it it's own chapter so I did this. Please review and let me know what you think, good or bad; I'm always open for discussion. Thanks for reading and have a great day!


	31. Chapter 31: Another Way, A Better Way

**Another Way, A Better Way**

That year there had been a series of bank robberies throughout California, the recent ones resulting in casualties (a few cops). And those robberies were starting to get closer and closer to Beacon Hills. When the first bank in Beacon Hills was hit, Stiles stayed up all night researching the robberies in worry for his dad. When the second bank was hit, Stiles' dad was there. Scott and Stiles had heard about it and managed to skip the last half of their classes to ride their bikes to the police station just in time to see the officers bringing the criminals in.

The sheriff sighed at the sight of his son and Scott standing outside his office as he booked the criminal he'd talked down not even an hour ago. "What are you boys doing here? Don't you have school?" He asked as he walked up, immediately hugging his son, once the robbers had been dealt with and put behind bars.

Stiles shrugged his shoulders as he came out of the hug, a hug he needed to remind himself that his dad was okay. "I'm the sheriff's kid; I don't have to be in school while there are bank robberies and hostage situations going on. I mean, who are they going to call about my unexplained, unexcused truancy? The police? Psh, my dad is the police." He smiled. "And Scott goes where I go."

"Stiles, we've talked about this. You're not above the law. You have to go to school." The sheriff pinched the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. "Jeez, Stiles, just go back to school, okay? I'm fine, the situation is over. You have a game tonight after school anyways. I'd hate to see you miss out because you skipped." The sheriff worried sometimes about how much his son was involved in his work, but he guessed it could be worse. Stiles could have gone in a much different direction after his mom died. At least this way the sheriff could keep an eye on him, know he isn't running around town with murderers

The lanky teen scoffed. "Pff, like I'd play anyways. So, who did you get? Are those the guys who have been robbing banks along California all year?" After all, Stiles had always had an unhealthy interest in his father's career, he'd just had his mom to hold him back or distract him before. The sheriff gave a resigned nod, knowing there was no use in not answering Stiles. "Why is he still alive? I mean, if there was a standoff and we know they've killed people including other police officers, why are they still standing? Couldn't you have just…" Stiles held his hand in the shape of a gun.

"No." Sheriff Stilinski used a stern voice and narrowed his eyes on his son. "You can never make taking a life so simple. Good and bad is never that simple."

"What do you mean? They broke the law, they hurt people: they're bad." Scott spoke up shyly from beside Stiles.

The sheriff sighed, hating that he had to have this conversation. "Boys, you're going to learn eventually that life isn't black and white. Everyone thinks they're the hero of their own story. People manipulate truths or find ways of justifying their actions to make themselves the good guys and you the bad guys. There are people out there who think you two are bad guys, a thought that's never crossed your mind. Everyone has their own story, their own motives and pasts that lead them to the choices they made. That's why you can't just go around killing bad guys, we'd all be dead." He sat behind his desk. "You have to make them realize that they did wrong. There are times when that logic fails, when you have to act in spur of the moment or in self-defense but…boys, there's another way, a better way. Most of the time, almost all the time, there's a better way. You don't have to kill."

Taking his badge off, rubbing his thumb over it thinking about those he'd shot in the line of duty, the sheriff laid the badge down in front of the boys after staring at it himself. "But dad…" Stiles was staring at the badge as he started his next argument. "Dad, it would make things easier if…"

"Come on son." The sheriff gave a bitter-sweet smile. "Haven't I taught you that the easy way isn't the best way? Being a cop, being someone who looks after the good of the majority, isn't an easy job; people will hate you and question you every step of the way. But you have to stand by what you know. You have to go to bed every night knowing your heart is clean. And tonight, I'll sleep soundly. If I had shot one of those men, especially without even trying to talk them down, I would be tossing and turning the entire night. I wouldn't have been able to look you in the eye. That's how I know I did the right thing." He tapped his badge. "This means that I protect and serve, but it also means that I always try my hardest to do what's best, to find a better way. Alright? And sometimes that means going to school, so let's get you two idiots back there." He laughed as he stood up, putting the badge back on, and trying to change the subject to the boys' upcoming game.

The boys nodded, struck with silence. Their freshman minds were trying so hard to grasp onto what the sheriff had said. But it wasn't something they would fully understand, comprehend, or fully appreciate, for another year. And whenever they found themselves lost or wanting to take the easy way out, they could hear the sheriff's voice in the background, see that badge shining up at them. And they always knew they had to find another way, a better way.

/Sorry for the long wait and for this chapter being so short but it just kind of came to me and I figured short was better than nothing. Anyways, let me know what you guys think. Thank you so much for reading, pretty please review, and have a great day!


	32. Chapter 32: Can't Predict the Future

**Can't Predict the Future**

Stiles and Scott sat on the cliff off the edge of the woods looking out over the town. Today most people were celebrating their last day of high school. Today they were enjoying their first taste of alcohol. It wasn't meant to be a melancholy event but Scott and Stiles got weird after the first half of the bottle was empty. Stiles would giggle but say some of the most depressing things and Scott was just a sad drunk. "You know, we're no longer freshman. We aren't at the bottom anymore." Scott waved the bottle around. "We could be real people next year."

"Real people? Scott we're real now." Stiles giggled and laid back down against a rock. "Three more years and we graduate. We'll be adults Scott."

Scott smiled. "I bet we'll be cool adults. I hope we're cool at least." His smile seemed to waiver. "What if we're always annoying, terrible little no ones that never go anywhere in life?" He looked over at Stiles with a worried expression. "We can't let that happen. We have to make first line in lacrosse next year."

Against Stiles laughed. "Yeah because lacrosse decides who succeeds in life." He reached out for the bottle of whiskey to take another drink. "This would be better if we were drinking it at Lydia's end of the year party. Maybe we should crash it. We totally should have crashed it. Scott, I told you we should have crashed that party! Damn it, I'm going to crash that party and win over the red-haired goddess!" Stiles tried to stumble up into a standing position but fell back down. "Maybe not."

"If we weren't no bodies then we would already be at that party." Scott mumbled before taking the bottle back.

Stiles flailed his arms. "Come on, Scott, stop it! We're fine as long as we had each other."

That's when a thought crossed Scott's alcohol riddled mind. "What if we don't have each other one day? I mean, what if something changes in the next three years? Or what if we graduate and then we never see each other again? You're the only one who notices me Stiles, I don't know what I'd do without you…."

Stiles reached over to slap Scott. "Dude, you're stupid! I know that you can't predict the future but why would we ever NOT have each other? You'll always have me. Nothing is going to change that. We're not only best friends but we're each other's only friends. What could possibly ever happen to us? Like you've said before, nothing happens here. We'll graduate and go to the same college and be roommates and I don't know, be happy." Stiles shoved Scott with his foot. "You know what would brighten your damper mood?"

Knowing his friend all too well, Scott smiled. "Crashing Lydia's end of the year party?"

"Exactly!" Stiles threw both his hands in the air and crawled up from the ground, not so gracefully. "Let's go, buddy!"

Scott sighed and took another gulp. "Fine, but you have to promise me that no matter what happens to us. And I mean anything, like even if by some crazy chance you get Lydia's attention. Promise me you'll always be around, that we'll always be best buds." He looked at Stiles with big, brown, puppy dog eyes.

Nodding and slapping Scott on the back, Stiles smiled. "Of course Scotty, nothing could ever make me hate you. Well, at least nothing that I couldn't eventually forgive. I'll always be around Scott. And you have to promise the same thing."

"I promise."

The two stumbled back down the hill and through the woods to Beacon Hills. They had just managed to make it to Lydia's house when the first cop car pulled up on a noise complaint. They didn't even get to try to run away like the rest of the drunk teenagers when one of the police officers put a hand on their shoulders. "Really? I would expect this behavior from Stiles, but Scott come on. I thought you were supposed to keep this one under control." He leaned on. "Is that alcohol I smell?"

Stiles had managed to sober up a little bit during the walk. "I don't know officer, can your nose hold up as evidence in court?"

"I can get the breathalyzer if you would like, kid." He shook his head with a smug smile on his face. "What would your dad think?"

Stiles shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. What would your wife think of the naughty magazines in your desk or the fact that those magazines show men?" He gave a smug smile right back at the officer. "I think we could call this a night and go our separate ways."

The officer's smile was long gone and he had taken his hands off the boys. "Just go Stiles, and try to stay out of trouble and people's private property." He shoved the boys in the direction away from the house. "Scott, keep an eye on him."

Once they were a bit away Scott turned to Stiles. "When did you go through his desk and why?"

Stiles smiled. "I didn't." He laughed which made Scott laughed. "See Scott, we're going to be just fine." He stumbled into his house and up to his room with Scott following. "We can't even get into Lydia's party when we're crashing. I don't think you have to worry about us." He mumbled into his pillow. "I love ya buddy."

Scott laughed and fell into Stiles' gaming chair. "I know. We're going to be just fine." He fell asleep peacefully with no worries.

But in the morning, the two woke up with terrible headaches and the urge to vomit (although there was only one toilet to throw up in). The sheriff, of course, didn't go easy on the boys and made as much noise as he could before leaving. "I didn't think we drank that much." Stiles groaned when his dad slammed the door shut.

"I don't ever want to drink again if this is what happens." Scott groaned too. "I wish I could just, you know…" He waved his hand around his head. "Just take this all away."

Stiles laughed. "Well I have heard of a few cures for a hangover. One, we could just go drink more alcohol." He looked over to see Scott scowling at him. "Alright, Plan B, we have a greasy breakfast." That got him a thumbs-up. "Alright, to the diner it is!"

The two had just finished their fill of the perfect greasy breakfast with plenty of bacon, sausage, hash browns, eggs, and even gravy when Stiles' hand patted his empty pocket. "So, um, Scott, buddy old pal, you can covered my half, right? Because I totally forgot my wallet." He smiled wide.

Scott's eyes went big as his hands went to his empty pockets. "Stiles, please tell me you're joking!" He looked over at the approaching waitress. "I don't have any money!" He hissed in a harsh whisper. Scott was not prepared to dine and ditch. "What are we going to do?"

Stiles looked around the diner, hoping to see anyone they might know. "I don't know, um, maybe we could…"

"Bring your money." A woman's voice made them both jump. A brunette with brown eyes and a sweet smile was leaning over their booth. She laughed at them. "Lucky for you, I like to keep an eye out for residents of Beacon Hills who need help." She winked and laid more than enough money down on the table. Her eyes lingered on Scott as if he reminded her of someone.

Stiles quickly collected himself and stumbled over his dropped jaw. "Um, yeah, thank you, thanks, yeah, why? I mean, we can repay you or, you know, yeah. Thanks." He gave a quick smile.

"Just promise me you two will let this remain as the most stupid thing you've ever done. And don't, I don't know, go running around in the woods alone at night." She smiled once more and walked off putting on her sun glasses as if it was nothing.

"Holy shit, I can't believe that just happened." Stiles started to count the money she had put down. "I can get some random chick to notice me but not Lydia Martin, how does that happen?"

Scott kept his eyes on the door where the woman had just left. "Why was she staring at me like that?"

"I don't know Scott, maybe she had a thing for you. Come on, let's go, we have another perfect summer to start."

/Sorry for the long wait. Who else is excited for the winder premiere tonight?! I'll be trying to put up updates for my other stories if any of you are following them so be on the look out. Also, only a few more stories on this before I start with missing scenes so let me know if there's anything you'd like to see (especially since my inspiration is running thin). Anyways, thank you so much for reading, please pretty please review, and have a great day!


	33. Chapter 33: Wisdom

I've finally done it! This chapter was an idea that was requested a really long time ago but I struggled to put together. So to the one who requested, I'm sorry it took so long but I hope you enjoy this!

**Wisdom**

"Mom! It's the first week of summer and you're already trying to ruin it!" Scott fell back on his bed, trying not to grab his jaw in pain.

Melissa shook her head at her son's dramatics. "Scott, stop being so dramatic, you're in pain. The pain would ruin the summer even more. And your dentist said you would have more pain if I didn't get your wisdom teeth pulled. Plus, I put a lot of money into your teeth. Those braces were not cheap. I'm not going to let you ruin all that work." She gave the teen a pat on the knee. "You'll have them pulled on Thursday and will be fine by Monday at the latest. Don't worry about it. And it's not like you're going to be awake for it."

Scott sat up quick. "What? They're going to put me out?" He tried to hide his panic.

"Yeah, just a little aesthesia and some mild pain killers when you get home and you'll be fine. You won't feel a thing." And with that she was gone, like it was nothing.

But Scott remembered Stiles, how he reacted to aesthesia. So he immediately called his best friend. "Dude, we have a problem, like a major problem." Scott proceeded to tell Stiles about his mom taking him in to see the dentist when his mouth pain had gotten worse and an x-ray had shown that his wisdom teeth were coming in all wonky. How the dentist and his mom both agreed it was best to get rid of them before they messed up his teeth or caused any more pain. But then Scott explained how they would knock him out and how he could end up like Stiles. "Dude, what if I have an allergic reaction? You can't give an inhaler to someone who's knocked out!"

A sigh came on the other end of the phone. "Scott you're going to be fine. First of all, I've told you how rare it is to have my allergy. It's not very likely you'll be like me. Plus, if you're going to have an allergic reaction, around medical equipment and professionals is the best place to have it. Yes, your allergic reactions are worse because of your asthma but there are ways to deal with that even if you're not conscious and they're going to be prepared for that. They're professionals Scott, it's their profession. You can trust them." He tried not to sound bored by his friend's fear.

"But Stiles…"

During their conversation Stiles had been researching wisdom teeth removal. "What you really need to worry about is if the root of your tooth is close to your jaw nerve, that can cause permanent damage. Do you want to never feel your jaw again? Oh, and dry socket! Dude, that sounds painful…"

"Stiles, you aren't helping."

He kept researching and talking as if he hadn't heard Scott. "Did you know that sometimes they have to drill into the jaw? But I mean, you just had the x-rays so that shouldn't be a problem. Hey, look this person put up a bunch of ways to prevent a dry socket. I can print this off and create an after-surgery plan! Wait, is it really a surgery? It's more like a, a 'procedure' or you know, something smaller because it's really not that big of a deal. Hell, people like me can even have this done wide awake. Although, I don't know if I could do that, I mean, all of the creepy dentist tools and…"

"STILES!" Scott yelled into the phone. "Just…are you going to come over after I have it done on Thursday?" He felt stupid asking, they were high schoolers now, but Stiles had a preventative dry socket plan. And yeah, maybe Scott didn't know what that was, but it sounded important.

"I didn't think that was a question." Stiles opened a new page on his laptop. "Can I see your x-ray because I'm a little worried about this nerve…"

"Stiles!"

Thursday came much sooner than Scott would have hoped. But as he walked out to the car to leave a lanky mass ran into him, practically slamming him into the ground. "Oh, thank god, I thought I wasn't going to make it in time!" Stiles panted as he lay on top of Scott and Melissa rolled her eyes at the boys. "I was reading about the possible reactions to aesthesia, you know besides the one I had, and there's no way I'm missing yours!"

Pushing Stiles off of him Scott tried to get up. "Stiles, get off of me!"

Stiles got up uncoordinatedly. "I'm betting you're either the crying type or angry type. I'm hoping for the giddy type but I'm just not seeing it."

Melissa laughed. "Put my money down for the crying type."

"Seriously?" Scott looked back and forth between his friend and mom. "I'm about to lose my wisdom teeth and you're making bets about how I'm going to react to the aesthesia? Is there any way to just do this by myself? At least I would be more understanding." He narrowed his eyes at the two and got into the car.

"Aw, don't be a sour-tooth." Stiles laughed and got into the backseat, patting Scott on the shoulder as he did so. And he just kept the sarcasm and jokes rolling the whole time, even in the waiting room of the oral surgeon. Scott was so wrapped up in Stiles' nonsense he forgot where he was or what he was going to do. And by the time he was called in and put under, he had forgotten all about his fears.

It turns out Melissa and Stiles were right. Against the odds, seeing as most teenage boys were angry little shits when they came out of the aesthesia oral surgeons used, Scott was a crier. Deep down Stiles hoped he could get a giddy, nonsense speaking Scott he could record but instead he was sitting in the backseat with Scott crying on his shoulder and clenching his shirt. "They're gone Stiles, gone forever. And the doctor wouldn't even give them to me! I mean, what does he even know! He's not a real doctor, he's a glorified dentist! I want my wisdom teeth!" He sat up and grabbed Stiles' face in both hands, tears still streaming down his cheeks. "What am I going to do without any wisdom?"

"Whatever you've been doing for the past fifteen years?" Stiles tried not to laugh. "They were defective, Scott. You never had much wisdom. It's probably better they wouldn't let you keep them." He gave Scott's shoulder a pat as the crying teen let go of his face and went back to bawling into his shoulder. "It's okay buddy."

It didn't take long for Scott to come out of it though. Just one nap at the end of the drive and he was seeming more like himself once they got to the house. "Just take him up to his room and I'll go pick up his pills. Give him some water but if he wants anything to eat…" Melissa started as they carried Scott inside.

But Stiles cut her off. "Giver him only Jell-O or soup and if he wants something to drink don't let him use a straw. Oh, and if he does eat he needs to use the giant creepy syringe thingy to clean out the holes in the back of his mouth. Got it." He put Scott's arm around his shoulders and started pulling them upstairs. "Lime is his favorite Jell-O flavor by the way, and you guys are out of it so you should pick some up while you're out." He called over his shoulder from the stairs.

"Did I just get out-nursed by a fifteen year old?" Melissa stood in the doorway dumbfounded. Then she shook her head and walked out.

When Scott woke from his second long nap, he was lying on his bed and Stiles was sitting next to him playing a video game with the sound off. "Hey." Scott tried to say over the cotton stuffed in his mouth. "Can I take these out?" He didn't think his words were very understandable but somehow Stiles seemed to get what he was trying to say.

Without take his eyes off the screen or one thumb from playing, Stiles handed Scott a tissue. "Yeah, just don't get drool all over the covers. And when you take a drink don't suck it down, we have to prevent dry sockets, remember? Any sucking, from a straw or whatever, can cause stress on the blood vessels in those nasty holes of your mouth and…"

"Just shut up and get me some Jell-O."

Pausing the game Stiles stood up. "Oh, and by the way, I told you so." He smiled. "No allergy. I hope you learn one day that I'm always right."

"Yeah, whatever."

././There's another chapter! I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading, please review (give me anything you'd like to see for before I start the missing scenes or if there's anything in Season 1 you want to see), and have a great day!


	34. Chapter 34: Bitter-Sweet Sixteen

**Bitter-Sweet Sixteen**

Sitting at his desk, threading his lacrosse stick, Stiles tried not to get over anxious. He knew his birthday was coming up. He knew that his dad and Scott, maybe even Melissa, would want to make a big deal about it. He was sixteen, that's kind of a big deal. It's supposed to be a big milestone. It the year he would get his license and…it was just another big moment when his mom wouldn't be here.

When Stiles was a little boy, Claudia had a jar in the kitchen where they would put at least one penny in every day. She said that they would use that jar to buy a car when he was sixteen (there was also a jar for his college fund but the car jar was much more fascinating to him). But when she died Stiles couldn't look at the jar without just standing there and staring with a look in his eyes that the sheriff deemed unhealthy. So, the jar disappeared. And now Stiles had no clue what to expect from his birthday but he hadn't known what to expect ever since his mom died.

Now, Stiles just sat in his room threading and re-threading his lacrosse stick trying to keep his hands busy. But he couldn't tell anyone, maybe not even Scott, because how stupid was it to not be excited about turning sixteen? No, he'd just keep threading his lacrosse stick and taking deep breaths, because it's even more pathetic to have a panic attack about a sixteenth birthday.

Loud banging and stumbling let Stiles know that Scott was running up the stairs. "Dude! Dude!" Scott came around the corner almost slamming his face on Stiles wall when he swung around the door frame too fast. "Okay, so I just had the best idea for your birthday!" He smiled.

"Cake with you, your mom, and Dad? Awesome, sounds good to me." Stiles smiled and started threading his lacrosse stick all over again.

Scott sat on the bed. "What? No, that's lame. This is your sixteenth birthday Stiles. This marks a whole new era of freedom! Just imagine…" He stopped, noticing the shaking hands threading the lacrosse stick. He grabbed a random shirt lying on the ground and threw it at Stiles' head. "Dare or dare." They hadn't played in probably a year, if not longer.

His hands stilling, Stiles looked up at Scott with his eyes narrowing with a look of stubborn challenging but also caution, knowing where this was most likely going. "Dare." He couldn't call chicken. And he threw the shirt back at Scott.

Taking a deep breath, Scott threw the shirt down. "I dare you to let me plan your birthday. And you have to do whatever I say when the day comes."

Putting his lacrosse stick down Stiles nodded. "Alright, fine. But I date you to…" His mind was failing him. He couldn't think under this sort of pressure. "You have to do whatever I tell you when the time comes." He smiled at the confused look Scott gave him. "There will come a night when I have an adventure and you're not going to want to come but you can't disagree. You just have to buck up and come."

"Yeah alright, adventure in Beacon Hills? Nothing ever happens in Beacon Hills, dude."

Stiles stood up. "Oh, I'll prove you wrong someday my dear bro-friend." He held out his hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Smiling, Scott shook Stiles' hand. "Deal."

Two days later Stiles was rudely awoken by someone jumping on his bed. "Wh-What?" He jumped up half way. "What's going on?" Then he saw Scott beaming over him. "Oh, Scott, it's too early." He tried to roll over and go back to sleep but Scott only started jumping again. "Scott!" He groaned.

"It's a dare, you have to do whatever I say!" Scott jumped off the bed and started going through Stiles' closet. "We're going to go to a birthday breakfast before you go take your driver's test! It's going to be great. You've practiced in a police cruiser, no one could be more prepared than you." Scott threw some jeans, a flannel, and a t-shirt from his back pocket that read 'Birthday Boy'.

Staring at the t-shirt Stiles shook his head. "This is so lame, I'm not wearing this. You can't really expect me…"

Scott shook his finger. "Nu-huh, dare, you have to do whatever I say. Now, hurry up, my mom and your dad are downstairs waiting!" He ran down the stairs, a huge smile still on his face. "Don't fall back asleep Stiles! I'll have a bucket of cold water with me if I have to come back!"

Groaning and complaining, Stiles dragged himself out of bed and got ready. He even put on the lame 'Birthday Boy' t-shirt. When he managed to stumble down the stairs there was a round of, "Morning! Happy birthday!" "Hey, birthday boy!" "Finally, the birthday boy has arrived!" He just grumbled and sat down at the table. "Where's my breakfast? If I'm awake at this ungodly hour, there better be a great breakfast."

"We're going to the diner for breakfast." Sheriff put on his jacket, a regular jacket not his sheriff's jacket. "Come on, I've got the whole morning off to spend with you, let's not waste it." And that got Stiles in gear. The four piled into Melissa's car and took off.

For breakfast Stiles got birthday cake pancakes (which also had a small candle stuck in the middle he had to blow out and Scott promise that there would be sixteen candles he's have to blow out throughout the day, 'oh joy' was Stiles only sarcastic response). The four talked about school, work, lacrosse (Scott went on and on about not sitting on the bench next year but Stiles only scoffed), and everything except Stiles' birthday and Claudia until Melissa looked at her watch. "We better get going if we want to get at the DMV when they open."

"We're getting there when they open?" Stiles looked around the booth unbelievably.

"We don't want to sit in line and we want you to get the first license printed off today." Sheriff Stilinski smiled and gave his son a pat on the shoulder before putting money down on the table. "Besides, we have a surprise for you after you get your license." He winked and headed towards the parking lot with Melissa.

Stiles reached over and grabbed Scott by the arm before they could catch up with their parents. "Dude, you better not have thrown me a party. Especially when there's a good chance I won't pass this test. I've barely practiced. Hell, I lied about most of the practice hours on that stupid sheet. I didn't want to think about getting my license. And it's not like my dad can afford a car so…just…" He didn't want to bring up his mom, he couldn't bring up his mom. "Scott."

"Don't worry." Scott put his arm around Stiles' shoulders. "It's going to be okay. I'm sure you'll do fine. Even if you don't pass, we'll just come back again and you'll get it on the second try."

"Or the third."

Scott let go of Stiles' shoulders and shoved him. "Stop being so negative, okay? Don't worry about it. IF you don't make it, which I don't you won't, but if you don't get your license it won't ruin my plans. It's going to be fun Stiles. Just trust me."

"I trust you; I just don't trust your plans. We've seen your plans fall apart time and time again." Stiles ran a hand over his face. "Fine, whatever, I'll do it."

Knee shaking the whole time they waited, Stiles was beyond nervous by the time it came to take the actual driving test. When he got behind the wheel, Stiles realized he hadn't taken his Adderall that morning (_Screw you Scott for messing up my morning routine_) and he started to really freak out. And that panic…well that lead to this, "Mr. Stilinski, I don't think I can pass you." The man with a pot belly, glasses, and the world's worst mustache commented when the test came to an end. "Sorry."

"But…but it's my birthday and…" He thought about using his mom, but Stiles wasn't that guy, he could never be that guy. "Okay." He hung his head and started to get out of the car.

Then the man grabbed his wrist. "Stilinski, you're not the sheriff's son, are you?" The man's face was unreadable, but the whole drive he'd been a real hard-ass. Afraid of crying, Stiles could only nod. "Alright, meet me inside." He left to let Stiles collect himself.

He failed. Stiles failed his driving test. He took a deep breath, letting his head hit the head rest. "I'm sorry mom. But on the bright side, we don't need that car jar after all." He gave a sad little laugh before pulling himself together and walking inside. He saw his dad smiling at him and it made him sick. How was he going to tell his dad that he failed?

But then, "Over here to have your picture taken." Bad mustache waved a stunned over to the camera. "Just sit there and look right here at the camera and I'll get your license started." He was so casual. Stiles felt like a zombie walking over and sitting down on the stool in front of the camera. Bad mustache whispered as he took the picture. "I know Sheriff Stilinski. He's a good man. I'm sure he raised a responsible kid." He started messing with the camera. "And I know how hard it is to deal with nerves and grief." He looked up at Stiles. "Just don't make me regret this. I better not see any tickets on your record." He took the picture as Stiles gave a goofy smile.

"I promise." He stood up. "Thank you." He took the license when it was done, the plastic still warm in his hands, and jogged up to his family. "I did it!" He flashed his license just before Scott jumped up and almost tackled him talking about how he knew Stiles could do it. Then Stiles turned to his dad and was suddenly being hugged. "I did it Dad." He held on tight to his dad, trying not to cry. "Thanks Dad." He knew that that might confuse his dad but he needed to say it. Just as he was pulling out of the hug, Stiles couldn't stop his mouth. "I guess I could have used that car jar after all." He hadn't meant to say it out loud and instantly hated himself for doing it.

Sheriff Stilinski laughed. "Well, about that surprise." He reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "I couldn't just throw that jar out. So, I put it into a savings account. I kept the jar and put change into it every now and then and every time it was full I'd go put it in the account. It might not be as much if…but it should be enough to get that damn junker."

There was a blue, 1980 CJ-5 that sat in the back of a dealership between the school and the Stilinski home that Claudia used to always point out as the perfect first vehicle for Stiles. The sheriff used to always say that it would be gone by the time Stiles got his license but Claudia never gave up hope, she never gave up on that jeep. When she died, Stiles would still drive by and couldn't help himself; he'd look and check to make sure it was still there. Now, after everything, that jeep could be his. He couldn't believe he almost gave up on it, let himself think he wouldn't get his license or get the jeep. Right then and there he swore to himself he'd never give up on the jeep ever again.

The rest of the day was spent going over trying to learn stick-shift, eating the cupcakes Scott presented with candles, practicing driving a manual again, eating loads of curly fries, eating the most ridiculous cake Melissa had ever made, and again trying to drive his jeep around a parking lot. But then, just after dinner (when the sheriff and Melissa had to finally go to work) Scott jumped into the jeep. "Okay, I have one more surprise for you." He seemed hesitant. "And if you don't like it, just remember that my plans usually suck but they come from a really good place, okay?"

Stiles rolled his eyes, still blissful from his happy day. "Yeah, okay. Where are we going?"

"The cemetery." And the two made their way there (only killing the engine three times) in silence.

When they got to the cemetery they walked up to the grave quietly and stood there silently for a few minutes before Scott finally spoke. "Stiles finally got the weird jeep, Claudia. And watching him learn to drive it is pretty entertaining, I've got to say. He's so uncoordinated and you thought he could manage a clutch and gas pedal." Scott laughed. "I'm beginning to think this was your gift to me."

Stiles smiled too, leaning over to shove Scott a bit. "Dude, shut up." He looked back at the grave. "Thanks for the jar mom. I'll never be without you." He put a hand on the headstone. "I love you mom."

He stayed for a bit longer, the two of them laughing as they told Claudia about his day but eventually they left so they could start a video game marathon and order pizza (yeah they already had dinner, but they're growing boys, god damn it!). On their drive back (as they came to a stop sign and Stiles actually didn't kill it when they took off) Stiles looked over at his best first. "Thanks Scott, this was the perfect birthday. Well, as perfect as our lives could be."

Scott laughed. "So, you're saying my plans can work?"

"Don't get cocky, your plan just didn't fail epically." He went to hit Scott but needed to shift down instead and killed the engine. "I'm really going to have to get used to this."

"You could just get an automatic."

Stiles scoffed as if he'd been offended. "Are you kidding me? No, never! I'm never giving up this jeep! I'll never leave it behind. It's family as much as you are, now." He ran a soft hand over the dashboard. "All you need now is a name."

"Roscoe, the future pain in my ass!" Scott laughed, but Stiles only smiled.

/So, it's been a long time. Sorry, I'm having a hard time wanting to write and then finding time to write when I want to. Anyways, there was my version of how Stiles' got his jeep. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Thanks for reading, please pretty please review (reviews and requests might help move things along), and have a great day!


	35. Chapter 35: When Will You Learn?

**When Will You Learn?**

Oh summer! Beautiful, beautiful, summer! The best thing about summer? Swimming, the endless amount of hours swimming. Scott and Stiles would jump in the jeep and find new places to swim now that they didn't have to walk or ride their bikes there. Finally they found a small little cove about forty-five minutes outside of town that no one seemed to know about. There was no chance anyone would come to make fun of them or yell at them. There were even little cliffs to jump off of. It was great.

It was a warm day; you know the kind of warm that made the cold water just comfortable enough to want to swim in. It was a beautiful day. And Scott and Stiles were out in their new favorite cove swimming around, the sun warming any goosebumps the water caused. Stiles worried the cold water might trigger an asthma attack (that was a thing right? If the cold could trigger asthma then cold water could, right?), so he was nagging Scott about knowing his limits, "You're only human Scott," and going to bring the bags (which held his inhaler and extra inhaler) closer to the shore when Scott climbed up on the rock wall higher than they had tried before. Scott was just about to jump when Stiles finally turned around, "Scott, are you stupid! The water isn't deep enough for that high of a jum…" He didn't get to finish his sentence before Scott was flying out in the air and splashing into the water with a loud smack!

His vision was spotting with black. Scott had often described his asthma attacks as drowning, but now he was actually drowning. He was trying so hard not to breathe even though it caused his chest and head to hurt because that would be bad, that'd be bad right? Where is Stiles when he needs him? Stiles would probably know what to do when you're drowning. Wait, where is Stiles? Stiles could save him. Stiles always saves him, doesn't he? He saves him when he's drowning from an asthma attack. But maybe Stiles doesn't know everything, maybe drowning is out of his reign of knowledge…

Then there are arms wrapping around his torso, just as the darkness starts to threaten too much and the urge to breathe becomes too strong (maybe he took in a little water but he tries to deny it when Stiles yells at him later). Then Scott is bursting passed the surface and his lungs are filling with sweet air (also a little water but mostly air). As he's being dragged to the shore he notices that Stiles is making every effort to keep him above water as he swims, even if that means Stiles takes in a few gulps of water himself. And then Stiles drags Scott onto the sand because his muscles are still confused on how to work. And Stiles is there as he pukes what's left of the water.

As Stiles starts to yell, only pausing to spit up water he took in while saving Scott, "When are you going to learn Scott? If you're going to be stupid then at least be smart about it. I mean…" But his words seem to fade, only because they're familiar. And a memory flashed before his eyes (maybe it was the near-death experience).

_It was just after Christmas. Scott could tell it was weighing on Stiles that he didn't get to go to his mom's grave with his dad like they normally did. So, one afternoon (of course it was supposed to be one of the coldest nights of the season) Scott decided he would take Stiles out to the cemetery. They rode their bikes out there, Scott having to use his inhaler only once (and trying not to let Stiles see it)._

_ Scott stayed back while Stiles had his moment with his mom. He knew that Claudia was still a touchy subject and Stiles hated being emotional in front of people. So Scott stayed close enough that Stiles knew he was there but far enough to give the teen his space. Scott had zoned out thinking about lacrosse (possibly day dreaming about becoming team captain and winning the girl) when the cold got to his lungs. His mom and Stiles both had tried to tell him over and over to be careful in the cold weather but that just didn't seem to faze him. It hit him like a ton of bricks, and by surprise, making it almost impossible for him to get to his inhaler and even then his cold hands didn't want to work._

_ Just before he thought it was going to be a disaster, Stiles was there holding an inhaler to his lips. "You dumbass!" Stiles' words broke through the ringing in Scott's ears after the inhaler had opened his lungs and allowed him to breathe again. The two ignored the leftover tears still lingering on Stiles' face. "When are you going to learn? You're an asthmatic human, Scott. You have to take care of yourself!" And the rant continued as normal, stopped only when Stiles wiped his face of tears beginning to freeze on his cheeks._

Scott couldn't stop the laugh that rumbled up his chest before he gave Stiles a one armed hugged, patting him on the back a little too hard and causing the two to fall into the sand. "Thanks buddy." He looked at his friend, who was still obviously mad, and smiled a crooked smile. "It's going to be okay buddy."

"Seriously Scott?" Stiles couldn't believe his friend.

"What? You should be happy, I've given you something new to research when you're up all night in an Adderall haze." Scott took a few deep breaths, soaking in the warm sun. "Drowning should be a nice change, don't you think?"

Stiles sighed. "You're my best friend and you're asthmatic. It's kind of at the top of my priority list to know everything I can about it. And I guess I'm going to have to know more about drowning and other stupid ways you could die if I'm going to keep you alive." He ran a hand over his wet buzz cut.

Scott stood up, holding a hand out to help Stiles up as well. "I guess so, unless I die of boredom first. Seriously, nothing ever happens in this town. Today was the most exciting thing to happen in centuries." They laughed a little at Scott's dramatic statement but secretly Stiles was already trying to think of new, exciting adventures to keep Scott from dying of boredom, after researching drowning of course.

/I know it's been awhile, but tada! Sorry, life has been a little rough lately and I'm finding it hard to either find time to write or have the effort to write. So I'm thinking this might be the last installment of pre-show memories and I'll start on missing scenes? What do you guys think? Anything you want me to write from Season 1 Episode 1? Well, let me know please, reviews make my day. Anywho, thanks for reading, hope you review, and have a wonderful day!


	36. Chapter 36: Seconds Before

_Just seconds before the beginning of the show..._

**Seconds Before**

This year was going to be different, it had to be. Scott looked at himself in the mirror after his shower trying to tell if he'd changed much, enough, over the summer. Something had to give. He needed more in life and getting on first line in lacrosse was a start. He was going to change everything this year, starting with tryouts. That's right, he can do this.

Looking up at the moon through his window as he walked through his room Scott smiled. "Please," he stared at the moon, unsure who he was talking to exactly (he'd never been the religious type and he didn't plan to start now but he felt the need to say this for some reason). "Please, let this year be different, let _me_ be different. Please." He smiled at the moon, like that would make a difference, before sitting down to prepare his lacrosse stick, tying the net thinking about all the possibilities this year could bring. Maybe he could even get a girlfriend…

Across town Stiles sat at his computer desk, the first day of school tomorrow being the last thing on his mind. He was still researching drowning (because of Scott's little incident not that long ago), even finding the blog of someone who had drowned, died for two minutes, and come back to tell the horrible tale of what it's like to drown, when he heard the phone go off.

When Stiles heard his dad using his "professional" voice, he went to listen in, a habit he had picked up when he was younger and didn't plan on stopping anytime soon (not only did he listen in for the interesting stuff but know what his dad was getting himself into, that he was safe; it was also why he had a police scanner of his own now). He heard what he needed—dead body, no, _half_ of a dead body in the woods. What was it Scott was saying the other day about nothing ever happening in Beacon Hills?

So, as soon as the sheriff left with a rushed goodbye, Stiles was in the jeep on his way to Scott's house. As he pulled up a funny idea popped into his head and he giggled preparing himself to hang upside-down on the porch. "Oh Scotty boy, I promise never a dull moment again." He whispered to himself and the listening woods nearby.

/So I know this is super-duper short but I wanted to post something and let you guys know some stuff. I might not be posting for a while. A close family friend, a man who babysat and help raise me, passed away recently and I'm having a hard time getting out of this funk and writing because of it. I promise to never abandon my stories, it just might be awhile before I can get my head back into it and I'm sorry for that. Also, this is the start of the missing scenes. I'd really like to go in order (because I'm anal like that) so please, pretty please, send me any requests for season 1 (if you could start with requests for episode 1 and so on then request for scenes in later episodes as I go along). So either message me or put in a review an idea for a missing scene in S1E1 for the next chapter (or next few chapters depending on how many people want a scene). I'm not opposed to doing some scenes with other characters but this story was started as a Scott and Stiles centric story and about their friendship and that's where I'd like to keep it mainly (for those who asked). Sorry this little note was so long. I hope you guys have a better year than me :) Thank you for reading, please review, and have a wonderful day!


	37. Chapter 37: S01 E01

**Season 1: Episode 1: Wolf Moon**

_A Chat Between Father and Son_

The dog barking, the light in his face, and Scott calling out his name, it almost made Stiles piss his pants. But then he heard his dad's voice, which was a bit of a good and bad thing. At least the cops wouldn't think he was a suspect or anything or haul him in. But when he heard his dad call him a "delinquent", he knew he was going to get a lecture. "So, do you listen in to all of my phone calls?" It was almost as if his dad didn't know him. They'd had this conversation many times, ever since he was just a little kid. But that didn't mean he was going to change his habits.

"No, not the boring ones." Stiles was hoping to keep this conversation focused on him, not his friend out there hopefully hiding if he knew what was good for him.

But of course his dad had other plans. "Now, where's your usual partner in crime?"

There was no way Stiles was going to give up Scott. Just because he was going to get a lecture from the sheriff didn't mean Scott needed one, and an extra lecture from Melissa.

Time to play dumb. "Who, Scott? Scott's home. He said he wanted to get a good night's sleep for the first day back to school tomorrow." It wasn't a complete lie. Scott did say that, he did want a good night's sleep for school tomorrow. And that's what made lies convincing, when they were half true. Stiles could do this. He's got this. Scott doesn't have to get caught. It wouldn't be like the last time they got involved with one of the sheriff's cases. "It's just me. In the woods. Alone." Maybe that was a little far, but he couldn't really stop his mouth at this point.

And of course the sheriff doesn't believe him. "Scott, you out there?" But did he really think Scott would just come walking out? God, Stiles hoped Scott wasn't that stupid. _Please just stay hidden Scott, you don't need to get into trouble I don't need lying on top of my offense._ "Scott?" Oh what a good friend! "Well, young man, I'm gonna walk you back to your car. And you and I," Stiles could feel himself cringe as his dad grabbed him by the back of his shirt. "Are gonna have a conversation about something called invasion of privacy." He'd been caught fair and square. But Scott hadn't been caught.

"Come on dad, you know I have to look out for you." Stiles tried to keep up with his dad's pace through the woods with little light. How was his dad standing up right through all of this? Why didn't he inherit his dad's grace? "I'm just looking out for you when…"

"Yeah, and if I used that excuse to go through your computer…"

"Oh god, Dad, no!" Stiles flailed a bit but his dad's hold on the back of his shirt kept him from falling. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Stiles wasn't really sorry. "But there's not a whole lot to do in Beacon Hills, what do you expect me to do?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe go to bed early for school tomorrow like a normal responsible kid, like Scott is doing tonight." That one stung a bit. "He is at home going to bed early for school, right?" The sheriff took an extra hard look at his son. He didn't want his boys running around in the woods at night when there's a murder, half a dead body, and god knows what else going on. Breaking into an evidence room is one thing, but this is seriously dangerous.

Stiles kept his face straight. "Yeah, of course he is. I said he was, right? Don't you trust me?" He saw his jeep finally. He was hopefully going to get out of this without too much damage done between him and his dad. But he also suddenly worried about his friend he left alone in the woods.

"I trust you until you give me a reason not to." Stilinski's grip on his son lessened as they approached the car. "And listening in on my phone calls, especially my work phone calls, is not a great way to earn my trust Stiles. I'm the dad, I'm the one who's supposed to be listening in on the phone calls and checking in on what you're doing. I'm the one who's supposed to take care of you, look out for you. Okay? So just…"

Stiles pulled out his keys and took a step away from his dad's hold, silencing his dad. "I thought we were supposed to take care of each other now. You know, because it's just the two of us." He hesitantly looked up."

The sheriff sighed. "You're right kid." He said after a minute, putting a gentle hand on his son's shoulder. "We look out for each other, take care of each other. But, you have to respect my privacy, okay? You can't get involved in my work. You're too young and you need to focus on other things, safer things that won't get you into trouble. Can we both agree to that?"

Stiles shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I can do that." He was still going to listen into the phone calls.

"Alright, now, I'm going to stand here until I see you turn off that road. And a deputy will be running by the house the rest of the night to make sure you don't leave again. Unless, of course, you have someone out here that needs a ride." Stilinski opened the door to the jeep for Stiles.

"No, I'm good." Stiles tried to sound cool as he hopped into the jeep and took off. "Damn it." He drove home as fast as he could. He'd have to call Scott and let him know he'd have to find a way home by himself. God, he hoped those woods weren't actually dangerous.

_Late Night Phone Call_

Scott pulled out his phone as he began walking down the road in the rain after almost getting hit. He called the only person he could think of calling. "Stiles? Where are you?"  
"I'm at home, I was going to call you in like two point five seconds. My dad watched as I drove off to make sure I went home. And he has a deputy driving by the house every fifteen minutes to make sure I stay home. I'm sorry, I didn't want to get you caught. You're not lost or something, are you? I could try to sneak out and get you, maybe?"

Scott sighed, he didn't want Stiles in any more trouble than he already was. "No, it's fine I can walk home, just talk to me while I do? You'll never believe what happened to me once you left."

"Oh yeah? What? Did you meet little red riding hood and the big bad wolf?" Stiles laughed at himself.

"No, dude, I'm serious." Scott thought he heard another howl and started walking a little faster. "There were these deer that just like stampede out of nowhere at me…crap I lost my inhaler. We're going to have to go back there tomorrow when it's light. But when I went to look for the inhaler something attacked me dude! I…" He winced as his side pulled. "I didn't get a good look at what it was but something bit me!"

Stiles sat up straight in his computer chair. "Something bit you? Like a bug?"

"No, more like a wolf, man. I don't know, I just ran. I mean, I almost just got hit by a car. I'm kind of freaked out." Scott jogged a bit hoping to just get home and go to sleep. He'd need to shower too.

"Dude, I'm sorry, that sucks. How bad is the bite though? Will it leave a scar? I mean, apparently girls dig that sort of thing, right?" Stiles tried to keep the situation light, keep Scott from freaking out on the side of the road. And the jokes just kept coming until Scott got home.

Scott laughed a little, feeling much better, much less freaked out, by the time he walked up to his house. "Look, I'm home and I'm just going to crash. I don't think I can stand any longer."

"Well make sure you clean out your battle wound first so you don't get infected. And I'll take a look at it in the morning." Stiles scoffed. "And you said nothing ever happens in this town."

"Yeah, good to know I can count on me getting bit."

"You're welcome." And the two hung up.

While Scott took a shower and cleaned his bite, putting a bandage on it, Stiles was looking up wolves and if there was a possibility that a wolf was what bit his best friend.

_Loss of a Benchwarmer_

"That is my friend!" Stiles cheered louder than anyone in the crowd watching the tryouts as Scott blocked Jackson's throw, he'd blocked them all actually. Stiles couldn't believe it. Scott really did have a chance this year. Whenever he was joking around just a few minutes ago he didn't acutally think Scott had a chance. He didn't really think he would lose his fellow benchwarmer.

His mind went back to all the games the two sat side by side, giving goofy commentary of the game while keeping their jersey's clean and the bench hot. _Oh and the douche, Jackson, makes another point. I really didn't see that one coming. Maybe he'll get taken out next play. We can only hope_.

He was going to miss that during the games. At least he was going to have someone to cheer for at least.

_The Pretty Girl Who Cried and Borrowed My Shirt_

As soon as he got home Scott called Stiles on skype, because that's what best friends do. "Stiles, you're not going to believe this. You know Allison? The new girl? She came into the clinic just as I was closing up. She hit a dog." He was smiling silly.

"Um, that's awesome…she hit a dog." Stiles gave a confused look. "How is this good?"

Scott shook his head. "No, like she came in and I helped her. I helped the dog and calmed her down and I gave her my shirt." His smile was full-on stupid. "I took an eyelash off her cheek." He ignored the dumb look Stiles was giving him. "I asked her to the party. And Stiles, she said yes. She said she would go with me." He felt like he was high, not that he knew what that felt like.

"That's awesome buddy!" There was a door closing in the background. "Oh, hey, that was my dad. I should go. I don't want to get into any trouble. And you should go to bed. We can't have you being tired now that you're a lacrosse superstar and have a date with the new girl." He laughed.

"Yeah. She's beautiful, isn't she? And smart…and…"

"Yeah, okay bud, tell me more about her tomorrow, okay? Have nice, naughty dreams." Stiles tried not to laugh at his love sick puppy of a best friend. And when the two said goodbye, Scott fell back onto his bed with that dumb smile still on his face. But Stiles heard his dad on the phone and couldn't help but listen in, animal hair fibers on the body belonged to a wolf.

_Notes? Anyone?_

How does Stiles always get himself into these awkward situations? Oh yeah, that's right. He is friends with Scott, that's how. And now he's friends with a werewolf. Things were only going to get worse from here. But Stiles would always help his friend, so if that means being in a situation like this, then so be it.

Standing in the Argent doorway in front of Allison's mom and Allison, Stiles flailed for words. "Um, hi, hey, how are you. I'm Stiles, you don't really know me."

"I thought you said you were her friend." Mrs. Argent narrowed her eyes.

Stiles gave off a nervous laugh. "Um, yeah, hey, actually she's friends with my friend, Scott." He looked up at a confused Allison who still hadn't come all the way down the stairs. "You know Scott, right? Dopey kid with weird hair and a crooked jaw? Yeah, that's my best friend. He ran out early from the party, not feeling well and all. I mean, I'm sure you're mad and everything but um…yeah. I'm his friend. We're also in class together." He ran a hand over his buzz cut.

"Yeah, so are you here to apologize for him or something?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, that. I mean, he's going to apologize too. It's going to be an amazing apology too. I mean, it will be great. But we felt you might need one tonight, and all. And, um, well, you know, do you think I could get notes from today for class?" He pressed his lips together. Why did he keep talking?

"I'm still new so I don't really have notes." Allison gave him a weird look.

"Oh yeah, that's cool, that makes sense. So yeah, look for Scott for that apology, the amazing one. Um, but I have to go now…so…great seeing you. Bye." And he ran for his jeep, happy to get away from that situation and hating Scott just a little bit for putting him there. But not hating him enough to keep Stiles from driving around all night looking for him.

_Wolf Apologies and Powers_

As they continued to drive home Scott looked over at Stiles, his best friend who had just told him that it would be okay, that they would get through his, who had just spent all night driving around looking for him to make sure he was okay. The best friend that he didn't want to believe, that he pushed against a wall and almost hit. "Hey, Stiles, I'm sorry."

Stiles looked over at Scott, his eyebrows raised. "What do you mean? Are you getting blood on my seats or something? Don't worry, we can clean it together, it will be great bonding time."

Scott smiled. "No, dude, I'm sorry for earlier when I shoved you against the wall and was ready to hit you. You were only trying to help. I mean, I was a jerk and you still helped me. You didn't have to do that. Thank you. And I'm sorry."

"You also clawed my chair."

"What?"

Laughing, Stiles have Scott a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it bro, it's what best friends are for. You can't get rid of me that easy." Smiling, Scott leaned his head against the window. Maybe he could get through this as long as he has his best friend by his side. "You know, what we should be talking about are your new powers. You could be like a superhero, Scott, a real Batman."

"I don't know. I mean, I can hear things, smell them, and…I don't know. Maybe we should figure how to control them? They're great for the lacrosse field and all but I don't want to hurt anyone, like I could have hurt you. I mean…oh god, what if I hurt Allison?"

Stiles had to keep from rolling his eyes. "Don't worry Scott, we'll figure it out. Although, maybe it's like X-men and to control your powers we have to hon them. You know, you can learn to use them better. Learn when to shut off or when to use the hearing and smelling. We'll figure it out, let me do some research." Stiles pulled up to Scott's house. "Get some sleep and don't kill anything until I see you." He laughed.

"That's not funny Stiles."

_Finally Some Sleep…Just Kidding_

Finally home after being up all night, Stiles just wants to crash. But then he sees the police cruiser in the driveway and he knows he's in trouble. Deciding not to hold out any longer, Stiles trudges into the house. "Dad?"  
Sheriff Stilinski relaxes slightly at hearing his son's voice. "In your room Stiles." He kept his voice calm, letting Stiles know what level his anger was at. Once he saw Stiles peak his head hesitantly into the doorway he started. "You want to tell me where you were?"

"Well, there was this party, and I don't usually go to parties, I mean I don't usually get invited or anything, but Scott was going with this girl and I went to keep an eye on him." Stiles started his rambling. "I mean, I guess he doesn't really need to have someone watch over him all the time but you know how Scott is so I just went anyway. And then I spent the night with him and I thought you were working all night so I didn't text or call you because well…" Because it was the least of his priorities with the werewolf best friend on the loose. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"It better not. I came home this morning and was more than a little upset to find that you weren't in your room. And then I come in here to see if there was a note or something to say where you are at and I find this." He turns Stiles' computer chair around to reveal the claw marks. "What is that Stiles?"

Stiles ran a hand over the back of his head. "Um, yeah, that…that's nothing, just an angry werewolf tearing into my chair." He laughed.

"Stiles."

"Scott and I were joking around after school, practicing for lacrosse." It wouldn't be the first time the two had destroyed something while practicing lacrosse in doors. "Honestly, I'm not 100% sure what happened but there was a trip and a fall then a ripping noise and when we looked there were those. So…yeah…"

Stilinski ran a hand down his face. "I thought Melissa told you boys there was no lacrosse playing in doors."

"What? I thought that rule only pertained to her house." He faked innocence.

"Stiles."

"I'm sorry dad, I promise I'll fix it or pay for a new one myself. I'm just…I'm tired." Stiles felt his phone vibrate, most likely a text from Scott. But he just wanted to sleep.

The sheriff sighed. "Alright, get some sleep, we'll talk about this later. But you better not start staying out late and getting into trouble Stiles. I can't handle that."

"I won't Dad, I promise." He wanted to mean it but it felt like a lie. How often was he going to have to start lying to his dad?

"Get some sleep kid." With that the sheriff left. And Stiles looked down at the phone to see Scott had sent another text saying "sorry" and "thank you" and possible ways he could apologize to Allison. It was definitely going to be an interesting year.

/And there beings the missing scenes, season 1 episode 1: Wolf Moon. I hope I got everyone's requested scene. I will be doing Season 1, Episode 2 next, so send in any requests for missing scenes in that episode if you have any. Also, I want to apologize for not updating for two months. As you all know, from my last update, March wasn't an easy month fro me with a family friend passing away. Well April was even harder. My horse got really sick, my Mimi isn't doing well, I found out I didn't get into grad school, and my cousin passed away. So, getting the motivation to write hasn't been easy. However, I hope to write at least a few chapters for this fic before I start work in June. Please don't give up on me, I promise not to give up on this fic! Thank you so much for the kind words and reviews on the last chapter, they made my day! And thank you so much to those who have kept with this story. I hope you liked this update, let me know if I should do something differently. As also, thank you for reading, please review, and have a great day.


	38. Chapter 38: S01Ep02

**Season 1: Episode 2: Second Chance At First Line**

_Locker Room Clean-Up_

"I'm first line."

"Not anymore." Stiles sighed. "And someone is going to notice that I used the fire extinguisher." He looked at the small mess left behind from his best friend attacking him. A small voice in the back of his mind made him wonder what would happen when Stiles helped Scott through a full moon. Could his best friend really kill him? No, he just had to focus on saving Scott.

Scott looked around the locker room before looking back at Stiles. "I'm so sorry man, I didn't mean to…I…I don't even remember…I just…"

"Bro, it's fine. We will just have to find a way to make your killer puppy side like me. Maybe I'll get it some treats and it's own dog bowl." He smiled.

Scott scoffed and shook his head. "At least I like you more than Jackson, right?" He looked at the locker room door. "Do you think I really hurt him?" Even though Jackson had always been the enemy, it killed Scott to think he could have hurt someone.

Stiles shrugged and stood up. "I don't know. Just clean all this up and I'll go see what I can find out. I'm sure some of the nurses at the hospital would love to see me. I'll get a hold of you when I get some information and get home. Which you should do, you know, go home and relax. Like, a lot of relaxing. Maybe look up some meditative…"

"Yeah, okay Stiles, I get it." He stood up to start cleaning up the mess and Stiles started to leave. "Hey, wait, man." He called after Stiles, who stopped momentarily looking back. "Thanks, you know, for all of this."

Stiles just nodded. "Yeah, no problem dude. We're brothers, right?" And it was just that simple.

_Computer Glitch _

Just as Stiles saw the shadow of a man move forward and grab his friend, his internet had a glitch making the screen freeze. "Scott?!" He tried to refresh, tried to call out to his friend.

When the screen unfroze again Scott was pressed against the wall by none other than Derek Hale, but Stiles couldn't hear what was being said. "What the hell? Scott!" He didn't know if he should call the police, drive over, or start writing Scott's eulogy (which would be very touching with a splash of humor, of course). But before Stiles had to make a decision Derek was gone and Scott was leaning against his wall breathing heavy. "Scott! Scott, I'm still here! Are you okay?!"

Scott made his way back to his computer and looked at his friend. "Dude, that was…Derek Hale just threatened to kill me."

"Okay, so do we kill him first?" Stiles' comment earned him an exasperated glare from Scott. "What? This is werewolf universe now, new rules apply. What do you want to do about this? Why does he even want to kill? And if he did, why didn't he just kill you there? Which would have been convenient actually, I'd at least have evidence of your murder. Well, unless he went all wolfy for it and then people would think it was a sick joke and lock me up but…"

"Stiles!" Scott yelled, shaking his head. "Stiles, he said that he'd kill me if I played in the game on Saturday."

Stiles' face fell into a 'duh' look. "Well, duh, you shouldn't play. I was telling you that it was a bad idea. Do you really need him threatening you to listen to my advice?"

"I guess I'll have to talk to coach."

Stiles laughed. "Ha! Yeah, have fun with that." And then they went on to talk about their homework and normal teenager things until they had to go to bed.

_Shaggy Calls Scooby When There's a Clue_

Scott felt his anger lessen as he rode his bike away from Derek, even if he was going to have to re-lace his lacrosse stick, because he smelt it. He smelt the blood. There was a clue, something that could rid him of Derek, solve one of his problems. So what does he do? As soon as he's out of range from Derek's place he sends a text to Stiles, "I think I know where the other half of the body is, and I think Derek is the one to blame. Come over ASAP." Then he went up to his room. Now he had a plan and now he was definitely playing that game.

_Stake Out_

Shovels stolen from Stiles' garage, the boys were now lying in wait for Derek Hale to leave his house. They sat in the jeep just down the road, Scott hoping he could focus his new powers to hear when Derek's car left. They had a plan, at least they think they have a plan. They're only sixteen, what can you expect?

Stiles drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "So, you really think this will work?"

Looking back at a shovels Scott shrugged. "It has to. I mean, this is my chance for what we've always wanted. I could be a lacrosse hero, Stiles. I could get the girl. But I have to deal with Derek first. And your dad won't believe us without evidence, you know that."

"What if Derek is the only one who can help you?"

Scott raised an eyebrow. "That's what you're for."

"Yeah, you're right." He leaned his head back. "What is he even doing here? I mean, this house can't have internet and the signal out here sucks. Plus it can't give him the best of memories…" He thought about what could happen if Derek came back, seeing as Derek seemed to spend most of his time out here. He just hoped that Derek would chase him and then Scott could get away.

"Hey, I think Derek just left."

"Alright, here we go." Stiles turned the jeep on and drove toward the Hale House.

_Uh, So Dad, About That Dead Body_

After watching the wolf turn into a female half of a dead body, Stiles had no choice but to call his dad, but they couldn't do it that night. The boys waited until the next morning, on their way back to the Hale house when they knew Derek would be there, nice and convenient for an arrest. "Hey Dad, daddy-o, dad-man, the man who…"

"Stiles, what do you want? I'm at work right now."

"Uh, yeah right, actually it's related…you know, to your work." Stiles looked over at Scott. "So, uh, do you remember that whole dead body split in two halves thing? Yeah, well, what if I told you that I knew where the other half was? And that I think I knew who killed her?"

There was a pause, as if the sheriff was pinching the bridge of his nose as his son's new level of annoyance. "Son, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, and Scott and I are on our way back there now."

"What?! Stiles!"

"Yeah, so if you could meet us at the old husk of Hale house, maybe with a few of your co-workers, that'd be great. Thanks dad, love you." Stiles hung up and looked over at Scott.

"That went great." Scott shook his head as his friend.

Stiles looked back at the road. "You know, maybe this could be our chance to talk to Derek, like we could find out about this werewolf. This lady could change into an actual wolf. You can't do that right?" He waited for Scott to nod. "Then maybe we should talk to him while he's handcuffed and behind bars, you know?"

"No Stiles, just leave him alone."

Stiles shut his mouth, he wasn't going to agree to anything because he wanted answers and simply arresting Derek didn't seem like an answer. There had to be more to this story and Stiles was going to get to the bottom of it. Scott was only thinking about the upcoming lacrosse game.

_Lost Wolf_

After getting back home from Allison's, Scott noticed all of the missed calls from his best friend, so he called him back. "Hey Stiles, guess what."

"Guess what?! Are you kidding me?!" Stiles' voice came booming through the voice. "I've been driving around looking for you for over an hour Scott! You can't just wolf out and then leave me like that! I thought something was wrong! I thought you…Scott…you…don't do that!"

"Oh." Scott tried to be concerned but he was still smiling, feeling high from his run in with Allison. "I saw Allison. She said she would be at the game."

Stiles felt like throwing his phone. "Are you kidding me right now?! After what just happened, you freaking out and running off from my jeep, you know, not when there's a moon to worry about, I don't think you should be playing in that game! I know we aren't trusting Derek and he's a weird guy but I think he has a point with this one."

"Stiles, Allison said she was going to come watch me. Her dad is going to be there too."

Stiles couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What?! That's even more of a reason to NOT play! What if you wolf out right in front of a freaking werewolf hunter?! Come on Scott! Just listen to me, just this once!"

Lying down on his bed, Scott sighed. "I just want to be a normal teenager."

"We were never normal Scott."

"Yeah, but, Stiles this is my chance. Okay? Look, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Stiles looked at the pages and pages of werewolf information he had printed out, a picture of a werewolf tearing into someone laid on top. An image of Scott tearing into himself flashed in his mind for a second. "Yeah, okay Scott, but just remember that I'll be there. Even if you're stupid enough to play, I'll be right there. Well, most likely on the bench, but I'll be there. I won't let anything happy to you Scott, okay? We'll figure this out." He still was thinking of a way to convince Scott to not play but he knew how much Scott wanted to be liked, to have the girl, to be noticed. Who was Stiles to take that away from his best friend?

Scott closed his eyes. "Thanks Stiles." He hung up and dreamt of a lacrosse game where he was the hero, where he scored the winning goal, where his classmates lifted him on their shoulders, where he got the girl, and where he and Stiles were invited to the team's after party.

_/Hey! I know I haven't updated in months! I'm really sorry about that, I've been stuck in a rut recently and I'm just now starting to feel okay again. I'm starting to write again and while I don't think I promise to update weekly again, I'm going to try to update more often. Thank you so much to those who have stuck through with me and a special thanks to those who offered me condolences after my last update, it means the world to me! I hope you guys enjoyed the update_!


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